A Thousand Mornings Naruto Fanfiction
by redgear3000
Summary: Chiasa grew up in Iwagakure (Village Hidden in the Rocks) but she doesn't remember; she has amnesia. What will happen when she digs up more and more from her past?
1. I - On the Inside

Four years prior to the 'incident' that happened to me, I was inside eating away at a bowl of rice, waiting for Momma and Papa to come home. They told me today was a special day for me, which I remember them saying the exact same words to my older brother when he was my age. I had no clue as to what to expect, considering they didn't tell me when big brother had his special day. They usually never told me anything. Of course, to be a ninja, you must be stealthy and secretive. Though, we were family, so why hide anything from us?

You heard correctly, I am - in fact - a ninja. I am already a chuunin, though a bit late for people my age. That was to say, I wasn't the weakest ninja around, nor was the I the best. My family is of the clan which holds a powerful Kekkai Genkai called the Omoiyarinoaru Hiiraa which means 'Compassionate Healer'. This ability allowed us to use the 'perfect healing' which was why our clan is so popular when it came to Medical jutsu. In fact, I remember being told a woman named Tsunade or something was taught under my people. She is the world's most renown healer now, which had brought pride among the clan. I didn't have this ability - even though it was basically assured that every person in the Baaten clan was to have it. Although, no one penalized me for not having it even though our genes were carefully monitored so we would have the Omoiyarinoaru Hiiraa.

I paced around the room after my rice was finished, not knowing what to do, but the anticipation was killing me. What was my special day about?

Finally, my parents came into the room, but to not be rude by asking what the surprise was, I ran up to each of them and gave them a hug. My mother stuck her nose in my hair as she hugged me, which she always did when she was in a good mood. My father just gave me a passive pat on the head. He was a very private man - my mother once said - he didn't like to be all hugs or too mushy even with my mother for that matter. Which surprised me, how did they even have children if he didn't like to get intimate so far as a hug? My mother was flabbergasted by that statement, but just laughed in the end, probably considering it as well.

"Okaeri Momma, Papa." I greeted them.

Momma looked a lot like me; or should it be the other way around? She had short straight black hair which was really silky smooth that I inherited. Her eyes were like beautiful onyx orbs that shone in the light. She was a healthy, fit person with a really soft voice. I hadn't received the soft voice, though. My voice was more like my Aunty Kimiko, Momma's sister. She was a lean woman with looks that could make just about any guy drop dead. Another trait I hadn't gotten. I was one of the most ugliest girls the clan had ever seen. Well, maybe not that ugly, but still, I didn't have the looks I wanted to have. The only thing about Momma that made guys shoo her away like a fly was that she didn't have giant breasts. They were only a B cup, and she was finished growing. I was sixteen and I was struggling with A's.

Papa was a lot different from Momma. He was pretty handsome, I guess, but compared to Momma, it was difficult to see how he caught her eye. He had dusty blonde hair that seemed like he never combed it. His dull grey eyes always seemed to evoke boredom. Though, I knew he was a loving father merely from his actions and a bit by his words. Sometimes, he would blow a fuse if he cared about someone's well-being. I clearly had gotten my short fuse from Papa, since we would often get in heated arguments because I was too stubborn to listen to his demands which were actually out of consideration of the family or just myself. Another thing I inherited from my father was my straight, pointed nose. His nose and mine were claimed - by a lot of people - to be similar; almost identical.

"Chiasa, dear, is that you? You've grown so big!" A voice I faintly recognized rang behind my mother and father. Before I could identify who it was, my mother and father were pushed aside like they were mere doors and my Aunt Kimiko came charging toward me and pulled me into a big hug. Her grip was like a bear's and it nearly ruined my blood circulation.

"He...llo Aunty Kimiko…," I said with a strangled noise which she seemed to ignore. Like always, I saw that she put on too much make-up and too much perfume. The waft she hurdled at me nearly made me double over. She was one of the best healers in the clan, so I had to keep my respect for her high even if she smelled like she skipped through a rose field and she was my very own aunt.

"My goodness, Mari onee-san, I can't believe she's sixteen already!" Aunty turned around to face my mother who was readjusting herself so she was standing upright again. She smiled weakly at Aunty's bubbly attitude.

"Indeed she is, Onee-chan." My mother replied. My mother was about two years older than Aunty, so while Aunty calls Momma 'Onee-san', Momma calls her 'Onee-chan'. I wished I had a sister to do that with, but I only had a brother. Ayumu wasn't a bad brother, though, in fact he was the sweetest boy you could ever know. Though, he did get on my nerves a lot, yet all in all he was a good person.

"So, Chiasa, do you know what your surprise is yet?" my father asked me, to which I shook my head animatedly to make sure it stood out that I was enthusiastic to know. Aunty smirked at me while I did so, and I figured that she had to do something with my special day. Just what it was, I was dying to know.

"What is it?" It took nearly everything in my power to not jump around with vigor as I waited for them to tell me. Though, everyone seemed to get solemn at my eagerness. Why shouldn't I be happy to receive something that was a secret from me the day it was announced my brother would also have one of these 'special days'?

"First, we need you to sit down, Chiasa." Aunty instructed me, pulling out a chair for me to sit in. A tad bit confused, I did what she asked of me. Aunty and the rest sat in chairs surrounding me, making the atmosphere tense. I blinked at them with a smile on my face in blind ignorance. What were they up to?

"I know this may confuse you, but we have a few questions to ask of you." My mother told me, taking a hold of my hand and squeezing it with reassurance. This was all a test, I could tell. Momma wouldn't hold my hand unless she was telling me that she was right with me or signaling to me that I could do this. A test of what, though? A test to see if I was worthy enough to stay in the clan that I clearly had not received the proper genes to continue in?

"Shall I start, Mari?" My father asked my mother upon seeing her hesitate.

She shook her head, "I'll begin, Yoshio." Facing me now, she asked, "What do you know of the day the Baaten clan was kicked out of Iwagakure?" I tilted my head to the side. What did this have to do with anything? Maybe it was a test to show how much I retained of my knowledge of the history of the Baaten clan.

"Lots. The Baaten clan was kicked out of Iwagakure because the Baaten clan was proud of their abilities so they wanted to have more special treatment and a higher standing in society. Iwagakure's Tsuchikage told them that they couldn't supply them with that seeing as they were short on money at the time." I explained, earning an encouraging nod from the three of them,

"However, the Baaten clan wouldn't stand for that answer so they kept asking and asking until it became apparent that the Tsuchikage wasn't even listening to them anymore. Though, he was actually afraid that the Baaten clan would withhold their medical services for the village because of his actions, which soon became reality. The Baaten clan wouldn't help any outsider of the clan until they were made the ultimate clan in Iwagakure. Having been defeated finally, the Tsuchikage gave up and banished the clan so the village would be relieved of a civil war."

"Perfect, Chiasa, that was beautiful." my father acknowledged, causing me to smile, "Now could you tell us what you remember of Iwagakure?"

My eyebrows shot up. I'd never been there since it was a hateful place within the clan. The older clan members like my mother and father had been there, sure, but not me. What kind of question was that? It was unfair, I was far too young to have been there during the time the Baaten clan was kicked out. Even my brother would have been very young and he was at least three years older than me. I went to answer, but my mother cut in.

"Yoshio… that's too hard to answer…," my mother whispered with concern.

"Let's see what she has to say, Mari Onee-san." Aunty Kimiko told her with a finger on her lips as they all faced me again expectantly. I took a gulp. How was I supposed to remember something that I didn't even have a memory of?

A pain shot through my head like an angry storm. I didn't let the pain show through my face. It happened often, but not so often that I knew when it would come or when it would pass. Sometimes it would be long enough to make my vision fuzzy, other times, it was just a passing moment. I couldn't describe it other than a sharp pain even though it didn't seem like it at the same time. Sometimes, I just didn't know what it was, but I didn't want to tell my parents about it so they didn't get worried.  
Almost immediately after the passing of the pain, a village was displayed before me inside my mind.

There were rocks everywhere, so I assumed it to be Iwagakure. Though, how did I get a vivid image of a village I hadn't been to in my life? It was so confusing that I had to hold onto my head to make sure I was still conscious. The buildings were made out of rocks and there were people walking around in ninja uniforms with the Iwagakure symbol clear and proud on their foreheads. That really freaked me out. How was I seeing people who I clearly hadn't seen before in my life? And how was it that I was only seeing this now? Was it just because I was being questioned about Iwagakure - something I hadn't really thought of too much before?

"Nothing." I lied, shaking my head as it passed, "I don't remember anything." The only reason I lied was so that I didn't freak my parents and Aunty Kimiko out that I 'remembered' something about a place I wasn't supposed to remember.

"Really?" Momma asked, looking a tad bit relieved. I nodded my head, feeling terrible for lying to my family like that, "That's OK, Chiasa. You tried your hardest. It's not anything to worry yourself over." I really didn't like the way Momma was fretting over something that I 'didn't' know about. Why wasn't she telling me what was on her mind? Why weren't they telling me why they were asking all these questions?

"Are you sure?" Aunty Kimiko clarified, eyeing me closely, "What about pains? Have you been getting those?" I squinted my eyes at Aunty. How did she know about those? I didn't tell anyone about them. I was fairly sure I didn't.

"Kimiko… that may be going too far." Papa warned her.

"No, it's not." Aunty Kimiko shot back at Papa, "We've got to know what's going on, is all. Is that so hard to ask?" With that, Papa shut his mouth. Though, I could tell that he was at his breaking point. He always clenched his fist if he was near ready to explode. After that, I didn't know what would become of Aunty Kimiko.

I sighed, not really wanting to alarm them about pains they already seemed to know about, "Yes. I've been getting throbbing pains inside my head at times." Aunty Kimiko sucked in her lips as she seemed to work out what I had told her in her head. Momma and Papa also exchanged worried glances with each other, leaving me out.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with me?" I asked, suddenly feeling extremely concerned with what the pains were all about after their worried looks. I wanted answers - so much so that I was about to scream if they didn't tell me.

"No, there's nothing wrong," Momma consoled, giving my hand another squeeze, "We're just discussing, like what adults do is all."

"Momma, please. Tell me what's going on." I said to her, causing her eyes to downcast from mine which were adamant and somewhat accusing. If this was concerning me, then I had to know. Though, they weren't telling me, so how else would I get my designated answers if I didn't ask or even demand of them? Besides, if they seemed informed of my pains, what else did they know about me that I hadn't a clue on?

"I guess I'll tell her, Mari onee-san." Aunty Kimiko spoke up, not as hesitant as Momma and Papa. Aunty and I weren't that close, but she visited our house a few times and we kind of got to know each other that way. That was probably why she didn't seem to have a problem with breaking the news to me,

"Chiasa, we asked if what you remember of Iwagakure because you've been there before."  
My eyes widened and I scowled deeply, not quite believing Aunty Kimiko quite fully. I don't actually remember being at Iwagakure, but there was that image inside my head which I assumed to be it. How could I receive that image? The only way was what Aunty Kimiko told me - that I was actually there before. Even still, why didn't I remember such a place? If what she said was true, then where did all my memories of it go? Surely if I had amnesia my family would tell me. Wouldn't they?

"No I haven't." I countered, slipping my hand out of Momma's, which caused her to look hurt and a bit worried. Though, all that they were telling me… I couldn't help it. If all they were saying was true, that I had been to Iwagakure then they had kept this a huge secret from me; something I wasn't fond of,

"I've never been to Iwagakure. Are you trying to accuse me of secretly aiding Iwaga—,"

"Of course we wouldn't!" Momma cried.

"Then why are you asking me these questions!?" I stood up and slammed my palms on the table, causing it to shake. While Aunty Kimiko was calm, Momma and Papa looked torn. Did my words sting them? I hoped not.

"We're asking you of them because we want to know if now is a desirable time to awaken your Kekkai Genkai." Aunty continued as if I hadn't just blasted at her sister. I turned to Aunty Kimiko, who seemed the most inversed and calm throughout this whole conversation. Was she the one who put Momma and Papa into asking me these questions?

"My Kekkai Genkai? I don't have the right genes for it!" I rose my voice in silent fury, "Stop telling me I have things when I don't!" Once again, Aunty was calm as a silent storm. She didn't even twitch her eyebrow at my attitude. All she did was turn to Momma and Papa to give them a reassuring smile like she knew what she was doing. Of course, if I knew anyone, it was always Aunty who knew what she was doing. I bet she gave Momma and Papa the same fake reassuring smile when she was aiding my brother's and my delivery. She was one of the clan's best healers, who else was better to do this job especially since she was also one of the best when it came to fake smiles to reassure her patients?

"Sit down, Chiasa, and I'll explain, OK?" Aunty Kimiko said in a different voice which was sickly sweet like honey. Reluctant, I sat back down. She folded her hands and placed them on her lap like she does when she's doing a psychoanalysis. There was a fine line of a smile on her face, "Where shall I begin? Oh, yes. Your birth. You were born July 16, were you not?" I nodded my head so she would continue faster, "Right. That was the day. Anyway, it was clear that you had the proper genes for the clan's Kekkai Genkai. Though, at the same time, the clan was trying to make the Tsuchikage into making them get a higher position. Fearing that the clan would be kicked out of the village, the Leader of the clan at the time created an order that a newborn was to keep their genes suppressed under a seal. That newborn was you."

She paused a moment, giving me time to reflect. I didn't say anything or even make a reaction show on my face. I just wanted to hear the end of this incredulous story. Of course, I didn't want to believe a word of it. How could I? It was like telling me to be a different person in a few short moments. It wasn't going to happen.

"After your Kekkai Genkai was sealed, you grew up to be just like any child. Minus the Kekkai Genkai of course. You had a ton of friends, you were positively happy." Aunty Kimiko continued, "Then when the clan was kicked out of Iwagakure, the Leader sent for the one who sealed your Kekkai Genkai—,"

"Who was it? Who sealed it?" I interrupted, brimming with curiosity.

Aunty pointed a finger at Papa, who was sitting there with his fist still clenched. Although I tried to convince myself that I wouldn't believe a word of what Aunty was saying, I couldn't help but let my jaw fall. My own father sealed up my Kekkai Genkai? No way. That wasn't possible. He couldn't have done something like that to me.

"So the Leader sent for your Father and told him what had to be done. The Leader did this all so we could get back at Iwagakure for what they had done to the clan. He said to your Father that once you were older, he would tell you that you were actually born in Iwagakure and that it was your destiny to get back at Iwagakure for wronging the Baaten clan. After he said that, you were placed before the Leader who told you that you were to be bestowed a bit of the Nine Tailed beast's chakra - a monster that had plagued Konohagakure a few months before you were born. Its chakra had dissolved across the land once the Fourth Hokage had sealed it and part of it was distributed to our clan by pure chance."

"Wait. You're going too fast." I paused a moment, now totally enthralled in the story. I needed a moment to think to myself. My head was beginning to throb a little bit along with the stinging pain from before. It never usually occurred this close together before. Was it all because I was hearing truth? No. This couldn't have been true.

An image of a smile appeared in my mind. It was the same type of image that I saw of Iwagakure. Clearly, I hadn't seen these lips recently, so of course it had to been an Iwagakure memory of old. For some reason, the thought that I had locked away memories scared me. Despite that fact, I wanted to see whose smile it was, seeing as it was faintly familiar, but it was also strange and new at the same time. Those lips… who did they belong to?

"Chiasa? Are you OK?" Papa asked me, worried.

"I'm fine. Just another pain." I brushed it off.

"Shall I continue, then?" Aunty verified. Slowly, I nodded for her to continue to which she returned, "After the Leader decreed that you were to receive the Nine Tailed beast's chakra, you were almost immediately placed into a room where the chakra was surgically placed inside of you. Though, the chakra must have been a bit too much for you because you got incredibly sick afterwards. Once the sickness passed, however, we realized that the beast's chakra gave you amnesia - you forgot where you were born, you forgot your name, you forgot a whole bunch of other things. Even now, we can't explain why you got it."

"That doesn't explain why they had to seal my Kekkai Genkai." I shook my head.  
Aunty explained, "The Baaten clan's Kekkai Genkai would disturb the process of implanting the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra since it requires a lot of chakra to use our Kekkai Genkai and if it got mixed up the with Nine Tailed Beast's chakra as well… I wouldn't even want to think about it." I had to admit that made sense, but I still couldn't accept the fact that this was all kept a secret from me. I mean, seriously, was it so hard to try to inform me that I had a bit of monster forced upon me?

Once more, I stood up from my seat which caused my parents to both stand up too, but I made my palm face them to stop them, "I… I just want to be alone for awhile." With that, I whipped around and ran upstairs to my room - hearing my name being called by my parents and even Aunty Kimiko. I didn't turn around, though. A single tear found its way down my cheek and landed on the floor as I flew up the stairs.

Locking the door behind me, I jumped onto my bed and threw the covers over myself and hid in there for the rest of the day - not willing to listen to anyone who knocked on the door even if they begged me to come out for supper.


	2. II - The Mission

_"Don't run too fast!" I complained to a faceless figure. For some reason, the person I was with's face was dark and I couldn't see anything, not even what their gender or what they age was. The person was faintly familiar, from what my heart told me. Though my mind had no idea who it was I was following. Even their clothes were blotched out from my vision. Though, I could see myself perfectly fine - so why couldn't I see this person? The person just gave me a smirk that seemed to taunt my slowness._

_"You're just too slow!" They replied, not slowing down in the slightest. I groaned and kept following after them. By the time we stopped running, I realized that we made it to an area where there was a slow trickle of water passing through some rocks on a riverbed. Lily-pads littered the water with their pink flowers poking up from the green. Frogs loped away upon our arrival and fireflies flew closely behind them. The grass was coated softly with dew which shone in the dusk light. Trees loomed over us, protecting the pure clearing._

_"Wow!" I breathed, stepping in closer to the clearing, "You found this place? It's so beautiful!" I spun around with a happy giggle and landed into the dewy ground, not caring that my clothes were getting wet. The sound of the clearing was just so soothing that I had absolutely no care in the world at the moment._

_The faceless person lied down next to me, "I heard you were going to leave soon." My worries unconsciously came back to me with just that one sentence._

_"Yeah… I am…," I replied sadly._

_"I don't want you to leave, Chiasa. You're my best friend." they told me. I giggled once again, trying to get the uneasy feeling away from me._

_"You always have that other friend of yours." I said to them._

_They groaned, "But she's the most annoying person ever! She's always hanging around me saying, 'Nii-san' this 'Nii-san' that. I can't stand it!" the faceless person was clearly annoyed by the mere thought of this person, "You're not nearly like her. You're a much better person to be with than her."_

_"Hey! That's not very nice, you know!" I warned them._

_"But it's true!" they returned._

_We continued talking until it got darker outside…_

My eyes shot opened.

I must have fallen asleep at some point when I shut myself in my room. I don't know what woke me up, but I was perfectly awake now. Yawning and stretching, I turned and looked at the time: 5:34 in the morning. After that rest, I felt a bit better than I did yesterday. My throbbing head was gone and the pain finally subsided. Also, I got a ton of time to myself since Aunty told me all about what happened when I was young. Still, I didn't want to believe it as much proof as was given. The pains had to mean something, the fact that I was one of the only ones who didn't 'receive' the clan's Kekkai Genkai was explained a bit, and the fact that no one penalized me for not having said Kekkai Genkai was also a big give away. Anyone who didn't have the Kekkai Genkai was basically seen as strange and was often an outcast from the clan.

Pulling the blankets from myself, I placed a hand upon the doorknob only to realize that I had tears streaming down my face when I passed a mirror. Pausing to take a closer look, I saw that my eyes were bright red and the tears were sticky on my skin. Did I cry in my sleep? I didn't think that dream was that sad - in fact, it seemed really happy. Why was I crying, then?

Shaking my head, I continued out the door, only stopping on my way to the kitchen to wash my face off a bit. When I made it down the stairs, I saw my family all sitting around in the kitchen despite it being so early in the morning. Even Ayumu who was a lazy butt was up sitting at the table breakfast laid out in front of him.

As soon as he saw me, he gave me a cocky smirk, "Looks like the recluse finally decided to show herself." Immediately, the thought of yesterday blew from my mind. I just went all out on him - I was so not in the mood to take his crap.

"This 'recluse' is gonna whip that lame-ass smile off your face!" I hissed at him, charging after him, but Momma stopped me before I beat the crap out of him. She was used to this, I suspect. We almost fought everyday even if I said prior that he was a sweet boy. He was, in his own way, but today I was cranky and partially in PMS mode.

"Stop it, Chiasa! And watch your language!" Her voice was almost beseeching toward me and it pinched my heart strings a little bit. Then even more when I looked her in the face - there were faint dark rings under her eyes like she didn't get any sleep last night. I felt bad. I didn't say anything to her since what they told me yesterday or even eat anything for that matter. She was probably worried about me. It made me wonder what Papa was feeling. Papa didn't like to show emotions on his face since he was a ninja and all, but a lot of pent up emotions wasn't good for anyone - not even for someone as strong as my father.

"Sorry." I mumbled, sitting down at the table next to Ayumu and began nibbling on some fruit that was laying in a basket close by.

"I totally thought you were going to rip my face off!" Ayumu laughed as if it was nothing. Though, for a split second I really felt as though I really was going to murder him. Guilt washed over me. What was wrong with me? A little bit of information of my childhood really made me like this? I had to snap out of it.

"Well, if you'd just had shut your mouth for a moment then no one would've made an attack on you, you know!" I said as I took a bite into an apple.

"Come on, I've said worse things to you before and you never took it that seriously." He nudged my arm with his elbow, "Like that time you fell off that ladder into horse poop." I rolled my eyes, remembering that embarrassment.

"You wouldn't stop calling me Whore's Shit for weeks." I murmured as he chuckled at the nickname. I kicked him from under the table so Momma wouldn't catch it, "Anymore two cents from you and you'll get the peanut gallery."

"Oh… I'm so scared." He replied sarcastically.

"Will you two get along for once?" Momma sighed, a weary smile stretched across her face. She knew that the question was rhetorical, but she asked it every time we fought. Now that she was being more like herself again, I felt a smile tug on my own face. I was glad that yesterday didn't change our relationship too badly. That was part of why I loved Momma so much. She didn't stay upset at you too long.

"Not in this lifetime Momma," I told her. I heard a snort come from Ayumu.

"Yeah right. You always get along with me when it comes to New Year's and Christmas. What? Do you expect to get a lump of coal or a bad year if you're mean to me?" Ayumu turned to me with one finger in the air, "OK, two confessions: One, Santa doesn't exist. Two, you're the one who provides yourself with a good year."

I glowered at him, "I know that. Don't treat me like a child."

"Well, you are my kid sister." Ayumu told me, rubbing my head. I got out from under his hand and returned the rub on the head. If there's anything I know about Ayumu it's that he can't stand his hair being messed up. When I did, he got up from the table, knocking over what he was eating. I just sat down calmly, smirking up at him.

"OK! No! Just no! Even if you're my sister, you can't touch the do!" He yelled. I tried to stifle a laugh. The 'Do' he called it. It was just too much that I couldn't resist standing up just to mess it up some more.

With rage obvious in his eyes, he grabbed my nose and tugged on it. Yelping in pain, I made my arms retreat to my sides while he let go. To get back at him, I poked his stomach somewhat violently, but I knew he could handle it since he was a man. He grunted and pushed me away from him, me running into Momma who ended the fight there.

"Just sit down and eat breakfast! No more bickering!" She shouted. Reluctantly, we did as she asked and sat down. I finished my apple without another word and Ayumu too. Though, it was quite obvious that he wanted to say something sassy back.

When we were all settled, Ayumu spoke up again, "So why did you lock yourself in your room?" As soon as the question hung in the air, I turned to Momma who gave me a sympathetic look. Sighing, I turned to Ayumu again who was looking at our exchange of glances with complete confusion. I told him what happened last night on my supposed 'special' day. About remembering receiving the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra, about the sickness that I had contracted after the surgery and the amnesia.

"Iwagakure? We lived there?" Ayumu asked which made me surprised. He elaborated when I gave him a blank stare, "Well, I knew we lived somewhere before here, but I had no idea it was Iwagakure. Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"We didn't want you to know at the time since we weren't staying there long anyway. If you do, it doesn't really matter. The fact of the matter is what resides inside of Chiasa." Ayumu turned to me and seemed to face me in a new light. I didn't want him to look at me differently just because he knew what was inside of me. I was still the same person he knew; I wasn't a monster. He knew that. I just wanted him to look at me the way he used to.

"The Nine Tailed Beast, huh?" He said thoughtfully, "Maybe your nickname should change." Although I rolled my eyes, I was silently grateful that he didn't get scared of me. If he did, then I wouldn't know how to react.

"Whoopee… a nickname from Ayumu. I'm so honored." I muttered.

"As you should. I think the name Kick-Ass Chick sounds suitable." Ayumu said, earning a slap on the arm from Momma. She was big about clean mouths. When we were younger she would get the soap out and wipe our tongues with it. Now that we're older, she just keeps reminding us that those words shouldn't be used. Though, it was entirely unfair; Papa used those words a lot too and she lets him get away with it. I guessed she loved him so much that she overlooked that. Maybe I would be like that when I fell in love.

"You know, I had a strange dream last night." I announced suddenly, collecting everyone's - especially Momma's - attention. I sat, thoughtful for a moment since the dream was a bit hazy, "I was there. Well, a younger me, that is. There was also this other person, but I couldn't see their face at all. I can't even give a description. Anyway, the person took me to this beautiful clearing in a woods where there's a stream and everything… Momma, do you remember anything like that?"

You could tell she was seriously pondering it - the way she tapped her chin and all, "Hmm… now that you mention it, I remember you coming home one day saying that you had a 'Secret Hideaway' that Ayumu wouldn't ever find in a million years." I gave Ayumu a triumphant smirk that he passed off.

"I guess we fought all the time even back then, huh?" I sneered at him.

"Funny. The wind can talk." Ayumu said.

"This wind can also blow you into a tree." I threatened.

"Oh gross. It's gonna blow me into some wood." Ayumu returned with a grin on his face. I hated that sick mind of his sometimes.

"It's not wood, it's bark!" I countered. We kept going on another rally of insults and protests that Momma decided to just stay out of because she probably knew it was best to just leave it be since it was almost the fiftieth time we fought that morning.

While we were fighting, Papa came into the room in a formal attire. I looked up at him and saw that he looked stressed out. Ever since yesterday, that was all anyone - besides Ayumu, it seemed - ever looked. I knew that Aunty Kimiko probably didn't care that much since it wasn't her child, but even still, I was her niece so shouldn't she be in the least bit concerned like Momma, Papa and I were? Aunty always was a bubbly cheery person and stuff never really bothered her much - why was this anything different?

"Okaeri, Dad." Ayumu greeted Papa since no one seemed up to do it. I was really glad that he was there to clear the awkward tension. Papa was grateful for his presence too because he patted Ayumu's head lightly with a slight smile on his face.

Once more, that stone cold exterior Papa often gave when he was trying to suppress an emotion face me, "Chiasa, the Leader has summoned you." My heart wrenched inside of my chest. The Leader wanted to speak with me? It was obvious it was about yesterday, since I was probably under tight security because I housed a bit of the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra. I stood up from the chair slowly, my legs shaking. Momma put a hand on my shoulder, passing me something. I looked down and saw that it was a necklace. I looked down at it with curiosity; it was incredibly familiar.

"I believe this is your's. They had to take it off during your surgery, but I kept onto it all these years for the time you would remember Iwagakure. It's a bit dirty, but I hope it makes you feel a bit better." She picked up my hand and set it inside of my palm. Almost as soon as it touched my skin, I felt a charge inside of my brain. The texture, the weight, the color… it was all too familiar to me. I saw that it had an opening on the side as well, and when I opened it up, I saw a blotched out picture of myself and another one on the other side… it was much too smudged with age and dirt to be identified. With that, I put it around my neck, letting the chain slip down almost to my middle. I even felt used to that oddly enough.

"Thanks Momma." I said genuinely. With that, I walked out of the house toward the Leader's office. As I went along, I felt the necklace swinging from side to side which made me giggle as it touched the top of my middle. I wondered what the other picture was, but I figured that I would wash it the next chance I got. Then… I thought, I'll be able to find out a little bit more about my fogged up past.

The Leader's office was polished and expensive-looking as always, but now there was even a picture of himself in row with the previous Leader's of our clan. The Leader's were always the ones who were the best healer's in all of the clan. If you asked me, though, I would say that the Leader we had now was one of the worst. He was conceited, lazy and his breath always smelled like onions. Not only that, but he was extremely old. If I was around one billion, I think I would just give up and choose to die already. Though this guy just loves life so much that he thinks others want his wrinkly hide around a bit longer too. Papa would slap me if he heard me right now, since he respected all the Leader's of our clan even if all I said about them was true. As long as they had the title 'Leader', Papa was dutiful to them till the end.

As soon as I got in the room, I got to one knee and bowed my head deeply at the old man who was stroking his dusty grey beard. He was wearing an impeccably white robe that all the Leader's wear to represent the 'Immaculate Healing' - or spotless healing, in other words. It revealed his hairy chest which disgusted me to no end, "Ah… Chiasa, you've arrived."

"As you have commanded, Leader." I replied, my head still bowed.

"Your Aunt Kimiko has informed me that you know of your past." He said thoughtfully, his voice quivering as if he was struggling to live. Old people's voices sometimes sounded like that. It kind of made me feel bad.

"I know up to a certain extent; an extent that probably benefits quite well." I told him, to which he nodded his head up and down slowly.

"The Nine Tailed Beast was one of the worst Tailed Beasts to ever plague the world…," Leader began, to which I inwardly groaned. It sounded like he was going to go on a spiel, "…One of the worst, in fact. Destroyed a whole village, he did; nearly, actually. If it wasn't for the Fourth Hokage. Its chakra was scattered all over the world and eventually…," He just kept going on and on about stuff I already knew so I just tuned him out for awhile.

"…That's where you come in." Leader said, which caused me to jump a little in surprise. He was going on for about a half an hour and I was starting to think that he forgot why he summoned me here for a minute. I kept my head bowed low, so no one could see the red coating my cheeks. I nearly fell asleep in front of Leader! "You're to leave the clan's village so you can once again regain your Kekkai Genkai as well as adapt to using the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra so we can get back at Iwagakure for kicking the Baaten clan out."

My eyebrows furrowed, "Leader? Can I request a few questions?"

"Of course, young Chiasa. I'll answer whatever you ask of me."

"The reason I got the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra was to get back at Iwagakure, but is that the only reason? Revenge? I'm not even personally involved when it comes to wanting back at Iwagakure…," Leader sat back in his chair, grabbing his pipe and lighting it up.

As he exhaled, he said, "Ah… that could pose a problem, I suppose. Well, I'm sorry, but it was what the previous Leader had wanted you to do. Other than revenge, I have no other reasons to give you." I frowned. Was I merely a tool?

"Another question: Why can't you just release my Kekkai Genkai? The Baaten clan were the ones who sealed it up; why can't they release it?"

"That remains a mystery. The previous Leader had tonnes of files on you, but there wasn't anything about the reversal of whatever is sealing your Kekkai Genkai - it is something powerful, I suppose. Not just anyone can do it; if anyone, you." Leader answered. I nodded in understanding, but wasn't completely satisfied considering it wasn't one hundred percent assured that I was going to get it unsealed. Though, it was better than the first answer he gave me.

"What do I do when I unseal my Kekkai Genkai and adapt to the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra? Just attack Iwagakure?" I inquired. Leader shook his head as he took a deep inhale from his pipe.

"First, I want you to inform us that your mission to gain power is complete. Then, as a clan, we all attack Iwagakure with you in front; leading the clan while us in the back take out the villagers that you miss." Leader told me. I tried not to let it show on my face, but I really didn't like what Leader was planning. It sounded bloody and cruel. Just because the Tsuchikage didn't supply the Baaten with a higher position in life didn't mean that we had to kill everyone that ever lived there. It wasn't their fault.

"What if something happens to me? Like, I die while trying to tame the Nine Tailed Beast's power?" I asked next.

"That won't happen, Chiasa. We know you can do this." Leader encouraged me, though it seemed to be more like pressure than anything. Why would he expect this of me if I didn't even feel too sure about myself? I shook the thought of failing out of my head so I could only focus on succeeding. Though, the bad thoughts wouldn't go away.

"Is there a specific area where you want me to train? Perhaps there is someone to train me to understand the power within me?" I asked, hoping that he would supply me with a companion to help me out here a little. Even if they just sat around talking to me, that would make me feel a whole lot better than just sitting in the middle of nowhere trying to harness the power of the almighty Nine Tailed Beast. Sadly, Leader just shook his head as he took a drag, then releasing it into the air, away from me.

"No. We really wish we could, but there are no Wood Type users to help you out here." He replied. I lifted up my head for the first time I entered the room. It was against etiquette to raise your head to the Leader of the Baaten, yet I was kind of desperate for some human contact while I was trying to work this all out - physically and emotionally. Both of them together were too overbearing. I just needed someone to talk to; anyone.

"Please, I beseech you, Leader. Just some human company would be enough for me." I asked of him, immediately feeling terrible for asking such a thing of Leader. Papa would kill me if he heard me now.  
Even though it was obvious that Leader was astonished at my slipping tongue, he still answered with,

"That's fine. It can be arranged. Who is it you choose?" I hadn't really been expecting my choice of who I could bring, but I was glad nonetheless. Surely I could choose one of my friends, but for some reason, I didn't want them around. They would see me weak, helpless, frustrated, angry, annoyed, hating… who would like me no matter what I did? My thoughts came to Momma and Papa, but I couldn't bear the thought of them seeing me in such a state. The only person I could really think of was…

"Ayumu. I choose my brother Ayumu." I stated. Leader nodded up and down slowly as he set down his pipe. As soon as he put it down, I finally felt as though I could breathe. The smoke was everywhere. My nostrils were getting tired of it.

"It's been decided. You leave the village tomorrow at noon with your brother Ayumu. Return once you are finished your mission." Leader said. I got up and placed a fist on my chest as I bowed to the Leader with the upmost respect. Even though I knew he didn't deserve my respect nor any of the other clan member's, I had to obey rules and also, I felt a sincerely deep gratitude for him letting me bring my brother along. If I didn't have that human contact to calm me down when I needed it, or to share a few laughs with here and there… I might as well have become the incarnation of the Nine Tailed Beast.

I left the room with a slight skip in my step. I felt as though I could take on the world and just won a million dollars in the lottery twice in a row. It was such a silly thing to feel even though my mission wasn't over yet - or even began for that matter. Still, just the thought that it was going to be me and Ayumu training for a few months made me giddy with anticipation. Which was another silly thing to be feeling - we weren't always getting along so probably three quarters of the time we would be fighting. I really didn't care; I was happy.


	3. III - Mystery Shrouding the Necklace

"You _what_?!" Ayumu coughed out his food as I told him what happened in Leader's office. I gave him a giant pat on the back so he wouldn't choke and die. He didn't seem to appreciate the pat even if it was for a good cause. He threw down his fork and faced me with an annoyed gleam in his eye, "You faced the Leader!? Not only that, you asked if _I _could join you on your mission to tame the Nine Tailed Beast?"

"…And to unseal my Kekkai Genkai." I added sheepishly. He groaned loudly and sat back down into his seat, rubbing his eyes with annoyance. I placed a hand on his back with a wry smile stretching across my face, "Aw, come on, don't be that way; think about all the adventures we could have. It'll be a time and a half!" He just gave me this look that seemed to say 'Shut-up-and-leave-me-alone-right-now'. Shrugging, I did just that.

Wandering upstairs, I felt the necklace swinging around. Once again it tickled me, but that deja vu that I got every time I thought of the necklace was really beginning to get on my nerves. So I went into the bathroom to grab a wet cloth and began scrubbing the dirt, grime and age away from the necklace. When the outside was cleaned, it gleamed in the light, making the familiarity so much worse. It was almost like I always had this necklace with me. As if I never left it from whenever that time I had the surgery was. There was a floral decoration on the front etched into it - causing it to look like it was something shared between friends with the 'Best Friends for Life' cliche on it.

Then I opened the dirty inside and saw my younger self smiling in the picture. Man, I looked like a ham: I was showing my gums and everything. My hair and face was messed up like I had just been playing in the mud for some odd reason. My clothes got the worst of it, though. Momma probably got so upset with me when she saw me returning home covered in mud. I wondered - who took the picture if it wasn't Momma or Papa?

Taking the cloth, I rubbed it first onto my picture, clearing it up. The picture inside was sepia, I noticed. At first I thought it was just the mud covering the glass part making it that brownish color. It must have been extremely old or packed away in a way that made it weathered worse than it would have been outside wherever it was stored. Anyway, I pointed the cloth over to the other side, but I found myself pausing. What was on the other side? One of my friends from way back then? Ayumu? For some reason, it seemed that my heart knew who it was while my head was just a jumbled up mess that couldn't really process anything. After a brief pause, I poked at the glass and scrubbed furiously. Now it was like opening a present at Christmas. All of a sudden, I just couldn't wait to see what or who it was.

My lips slightly parted when my eyes met with a boy no older than the me in the picture. My heart was thumping quickly as if it was a rabbit running from a predator. Since it was all in sepia, I couldn't depict what the color of his eyes or his hair was. Though, he had really sharp eyes like he was determined or something. He was smirking - which set off a lot of 'recognizing' bells. This boy was almost as familiar as the necklace. When I looked away from the picture for a moment to reflect, I realized that my hand was shaking. Whoever that boy was - he was making me nervous for some reason. Did I have some bad chemistry with him or something? My heart was really making it seem so with its erratic beating.

Closing up the necklace, I let it drop down to the top of my middle again and looked into the mirror. My reflection just stared at me as always, but I couldn't help but wonder if a part of me knew who that boy was. If that part of me knew, why wasn't it telling me? Taking a deep breath, I looked away from the mirror. Maybe my memory of him would come back another day. Clearly, that day wasn't today.

It was only when I was stepping into my room when a flash of something zapped through my mind like a lightning bolt. Sucking in a breath of surprise, I realized that it was a brief memory of the past. Just like the Iwagakure and the memory of the smile.

_Hands carefully placed a cold chain around my neck. The necklace was way too long for me since it was my younger self but the chain could be doubled up to make it shorter. I touched the necklace gingerly, feeling like I was about to fly to the moon. I looked to the person who gave it to me. Once again, I couldn't see the person's face, but that uncanny feeling that I knew them from somewhere came back. I smiled and felt red trickle up into my cheeks._

"_With this, even if you leave_…_ you won't forget me." They told me._

_I giggled, "Silly. Of course I'll never forget you. My best friend in the whole wide world? That isn't something that people so easily forget." The person smiled at me. Even though they were shaded out, I could feel the smile - as if it was etched into my soul; making it unforgettable. I couldn't help but smile back._

"_Keep it safe, OK?" They asked._

_I nodded, "OK."_

Absentmindedly, I touched the necklace and grasped it into my palm. I made a promise with someone to keep this necklace safe. Yet, who was it? Unconsciously, I felt bad for that person because I broke my word that I wouldn't forget them. Though, I didn't even know what that person looked like. Unless it was the boy in the picture. Yes, it _must_ have been the boy in the picture - if I was best friends with this boy, why would anyone else give me a necklace with the two of us in it?

Opening up the necklace again I inspected the boy up and down, taking in every feature of him. His hair was short, but the color was undeterminable still. It was a lighter sepia, so maybe blonde or a greyish color? His eyes were also light as well, so it was probably blue, green or even grey eyes. I sighed. There was just too many variations to go with. If only I could narrow it down a little bit. Looking once more, I noticed now that he wasn't part of the Baaten clan. The signature sign of someone from the Baaten clan was that they had a tattoo that would be visible to people so they would be able to recognize us right away. I had mine right under my right ear. The tattoo was ancient Chinese for 'healing' written in red ink with a white outline. It kind of stood out from our usually dark colored hair and eyes. So the reason he kept talking about me leaving was because this was the time the Baaten clan was kicked out of Iwagakure. That must mean he was in Iwagakure somewhere.

I went over to my bed and laid down on it - looking up at the necklace with wonder. Maybe he was still there. Maybe he was actually still waiting for me. Or maybe he forgot about me and moved on with his life. That thought depressed me, but still, it was a possibility - a probable one at that. There was no harm in trying though. Maybe once Ayumu and I headed out to begin my training, we could pay a visit to Iwagakure and ask around for him. …Actually, that might be a terrible idea. They would probably recognize Ayumu and I to be part of the Baaten and kick us out right away thanks to our tattoos. We could cover them up, I supposed. I just had to wear a bandana around my neck to cover it and Ayumu just had to put a band-aid on his left cheek. It would be fairly easy - I mean, I was really itching to know who my old best friend was and how he was doing. Maybe we could even catch up a little. If he recognized me, that is.

I didn't realize it until I was standing in front of my closet, but I unconsciously wandered around my room in almost like a pace. It seemed like I was plotting something. Though, it wasn't like I was going to invade Iwagakure or anything (yet). It was just to see if the boy in the picture was still waiting for me to come back to Iwagakure - even if it was improbable; I still wanted to try. It wasn't like Ayumu and I had anything better to do until noon tomorrow.

So I tore opened my closet and took out two bandanas and my kitbag then ripped down the stairs where Ayumu looked like he was just going to go out with a bunch of his friends. I grabbed his arm and stared at him with my earnest eyes - which was usually the ticket to get Ayumu to do just about everything for me.

"Chiasa, what's going on?" He asked, somewhat genuinely worried as his buddies giggled at him from behind. He just ignored them; which was something I loved about Ayumu. He never became a different person around his friends - just the same old Ayumu.

"Let's go to Iwagakure!" I said with a song in my tone. Obviously, everyone who heard was severely confused. I didn't care what Ayumu's friends thought since I hardly knew any of them. Ayumu just raised an eyebrow that seemed to say 'The-hell-goes-through-your-mind?'.

"What - you mean now?" he verified.

"Yeah, of course I mean now! Come on!" I urged him. He gave a helpless look to his friends who just raised their arms up in the air to say 'I know how it is' and they all turned to leave the house. Ayumu pushed my hand off of his arm and groaned loudly and rubbed his eyes much like before. He was going to wear his eyes out that way.

"Listen, Chiasa, going to Iwagakure is the stupidest thing you could ever do. They'll recognize us instantly!" Ayumu protested. I shook my head quickly and lifted to show him the bandanas to which he gave me a look. I just giggled sheepishly as I tossed him one.

"Come on; we're not going to be there long." I told him.

"And _why _are we going there again?" he asked, wrapping the bandana around one ear so that it covered the tattoo on his left cheek. I lifted up the necklace and gazed at it in wonder. Ayumu also looked down at my necklace, "_That's _the reason? The necklace?" Sticking my tongue out at him, I opened it up to show him a picture of my younger self and the boy. He looked at the pictures for a while then pointed at the boy.

"You know… that kid looks incredibly familiar…," He said thoughtfully.

"I know right! I've been saying the same thing, but I can't quite put my finger on who it is exactly." I closed the necklace up once again and let it casually hang down at my middle again, "That's why I want to go to Iwagakure - to see if he's still there. If he is, then maybe we can catch up and stuff. I've had these weird reoccurring memories of a figure and I'm sure it's him!" Ayumu rolled his eyes at me, but even still, I could tell that he was still coming as well. I put the bandana around my neck so the tattoo behind my ear was covered up.

"Uh… Mom? We're going to be leaving for a while… see ya!" Ayumu shouted as we left the house and began heading out for Iwagakure.

It was a little after noon when we arrived at the gates of Iwagakure. Seriously, the Baaten clan didn't run away too far from their mother village when they were kicked out. Sometimes it took three days to reach a Hidden Village since it's supposed to be hidden. Though, here we were, eight hours later outside the gates of Iwagakure. The gates were mighty stone walls that could open if an Earth type user slid them apart. Since it was daytime, they were opened already waiting for us to enter. Nothing immediately jumped out at me once we reached the gates, but something must have hit Ayumu; and hard too. There was a nostalgic look in his eye as he stared up at the stone gates, as he laid his hand on the cold stone, as he took in a breath, as he walked inch by inch further toward the village. I wished he would tell me what he was thinking, but obviously he was skipping down a memory lane and took a wrong turn and took the way that just kept going on forever.

Inside the city was breathtaking, I had to admit. It wasn't that it was stunningly beautiful - more like it was incredibly dusty with rock erosion. The thing that hit me was how familiar it looked compared to the memory that I had yesterday. It was similar - almost identical. The same stone houses crowded the village with people with the Iwagakure symbol on their forehead protectors, the same dusty roads linking the village together, the same stony spires of rocks that seemed like skyscrapers… everything was just all too familiar that it left me speechless. It made me think that the boy _would_ be here.

"So…," Ayumu broke me out of my thoughts, while sucking in a breath of admiration, "Where do we begin our search?" I looked around Iwagakure for a bit, making sure if my bandana was still in check and trying to blink out the rock dust that flew into my eyes. It was almost like sand blowing into your face, only a little less worse, of course. My eyes then came to a road that no one was traveling in. The pathway was also familiar so I just began walking down the path, leaving Ayumu to be forced into following me.

"Hey, Chiasa… doesn't this place seem…," Ayumu began.

"Yeah, I know. It's like I've been going down this path for years." I opinionated. Ayumu took in another breath that seemed to agree with me. Finally, the path fanned out into a ruined area. The stone buildings were somewhat fading away with their windows unlit and dirty as if they have been forgotten long ago. Wind softly blew through the area, causing a whistle to play throughout. There was one tall building far in the back that was facing us almost expectantly as a parent would if their child came home past curfew. Even though the place seemed torn like a ghost town, there was still a hold strong air about the place.

"My god, it's like going into a picture…," I whispered softly.

"Chiasa. This one… this house is ours'." Ayumu told me, pointing to a house that had our family name 'Yamaguchi' written in kanji fading in the stone face. I turned to the house and saw that it was just a plain and simple house. We weren't anyone different in the clan with the exception of me being the clan's somewhat 'secret weapon'. Other than that, it would seem that we were just regular people.

Going past Ayumu, I entered our old house and took a look inside. The room was cozy, like an elderly couple's house usually is. There wasn't even anything in it, but I could tell that it still carried our scent in it. Even now, we had the same scent that we once held. Ayumu came in after me and also seemed to notice this. There was an upstairs that I faintly remembered climbing when I was but a child. Since there was nothing really to look at, I wandered up the stairs and came to a hallway littered with doors. Opening the first one, I saw that it was a bare room with a big window. Closing my eyes, I slightly remembered a younger me going into this room when I had a bad dream and I ran into Momma's arms for comfort. Then I went to the room over one and didn't really recognize it really well, so I just went over it and went to the one across the hall from it. As soon as my hand touched the doorknob, I knew that this room was mine. Even the doorknob felt right in my hand as if I had turned the door a million times over. When I stepped into the room, I nearly fell to my knees and began bawling.

This wasn't just a faint - it was a full throttle remembrance.

Every corner in the room was so expertly etched into my brain that there was no way I could forget it. The window that I so often wished upon a star out of was still in the same state except that it didn't have my blinds in it anymore. The corner where I was put out for a time out was still covered scratch marks that I made when I was bored. The same second to the left back of the room floor board was still as squeaky as ever. I even knew where my bed used to be - right under the window. It was a twin sized single bed and it had bunnies on the sheets. I used to cuddle my plush toy whenever Momma read to me. I used to hang out with friends and color on coloring sheets in this room.

"Chiasa! This is my ro… oh, god… Chiasa, are you all right?" Ayumu's voice sounded from the middle of my memory parade. He came over to me and steadied me on my feet, seeing as I was about to faint. This was just too much - too much memories given back to me in one day. I needed to take a break.

"Can we take a break from memory lane?" I asked honestly, "I think I'm going to throw up or something." Ayumu gave me an unbelieving smirk.

"Throw up? Nah, you're just hungry. Let's go get something to eat." he suggested, which caused me to smile. That was why I chose him to come with me on my training mission - he could easily get my mind off anything that was stressing me out.

With that, we left the old Baaten clan's part of town and headed toward the nearest restaurant. Though, it was slightly agitating since Ayumu refused to pay and just kind of snuck out when we were finished eating which forced me into paying for the both of us. It may not have seemed so bad, but Ayumu ate like a filthy pig. There were about six large plates full of food that I wasn't even close to touching. Coughing up some change, I paid the people and then searched for Ayumu so I could kill him. When I did end up finding him, though, of course I didn't kill him, I just gave him a sock to the face to which he returned until we were just a terrible mess of a fight. People just avoided us rather than helped us stop our fighting. That was perfectly fine with me - after all, I wanted to save that money for better things than on _his_ food.

After that stretched out fight, I realized that I almost completely forgot the feeling of being sick. I was fine. Thank goodness for that since the sun was beginning to set which I didn't even consider when I was busy beating the crap out of Ayumu. When I told him that we needed to get a hotel room before all of them were booked, I made sure to be the one to sneak out when he went up to the counter and asked for a room for two. He got mad, but I just told him that it was payback for making me pay for his giant dinner. He got really sore about it, no doubt - seeing as he flopped into bed at five o'clock and didn't get up.

Being left by myself, I sat on my own bed and stared down at the boy again. Once more, my heart began to beat faster. Why did I react like that? I haven't seen the boy for who knows how long and I didn't even know his name - so why did I get riled up when I saw the picture of him? I guessed when I left, we didn't end it on a good note or something. I sighed. I hated how I could only assume. I wished I had the straight out facts. Also, the stupid memories only came when they felt like it, which made it so much harder to figure this whole thing out.

I turned to the 'sleeping' Ayumu. Would he mind if I just kind of upped and left to search for the boy without him knowing? Well, it was his own fault for getting so sore for having the same thing done to him as he did to me. Clutching the necklace, I quickly wrote a note to Ayumu saying where I'd be and that I'd be back in a few hours or so. With that, I placed it on the bedside table and quietly left the room.

As soon as I left the hotel doors, I had the sudden feeling that I couldn't do this. Where would I begin? What if I was caught being part of the Baaten clan? What if he wasn't even here, proving my search fruitless? What if it only brought up bad memories to everyone I asked? I tugged on my hair in all directions. I was making this difficult for myself. Taking in a breath, I approached the nearest person who was a woman with brown hair. At first, she didn't notice me until I said to her:

"Excuse me, Miss." I called. She turned, having that standoffish glance probably because she didn't know me.

"Yes? Can I help you?" she returned politely.

I faltered. Was this really a worthwhile search? Still, I pressed on, "Um… d-do… do you by chance know who this boy is?" I opened up the necklace with shaking fingers. I didn't know if this question was even worth this lady's day. Not only that, I felt silly searching for someone I didn't really know - well, as far as I knew. Though, something was urging me to find out who he was. Was he that important to me?

She squinted down at the tiny picture I showed her. Her eyebrows furrowed and soon her eyes darkened, "Why do you want to know who he is?" This question caught me off guard. I thought I would be the one asking questions - yet, here she was, wanting to know why I wanted to know this boy.

"Uh… I, um… Well, I used to live in Iwagakure way back when…," I decided to be outright with the answer. As long as she didn't know that I was part of the Baaten clan, then I was fine, right? "…and I was best friends with this boy, I think. If you could, could you please tell me where he lives? If you don't mind, of course." She scowled deeply.

"You won't find him here." she said. My shoulders slumped at that answer. He left Iwagakure? Why? I thought that I was the one leaving him - then all of a sudden, he leaves as well? Was it to search for me, or something else?

"Do you know him?" I asked despite the sadness that whelmed me.

"Who doesn't?" The lady answered vaguely, sighing as she brushed her long hair behind her ear. She turned to me and looked me in the eyes, "You say you were best friends with him? Then maybe you should be asking Kurotsuchi these questions." I cocked my head to the side. Why was that name so familiar?

"Kurotsuchi? Who's that?" I wondered. The woman eyed me suspiciously.

"Didn't you tell me you used to live in Iwagakure?" she asked to which I answered with a hesitant nod, "Then you should know who she is. The granddaughter of the Tsuchikage… does that clear anything up?" I had to admit that it really did clear up a little fog in my mind. Still, it wasn't really anything to go by. Nevertheless, it gave me an idea as to where to go next. Nodding again, I thanked the lady for her time and left her to go toward the largest building in the village - what I assumed to be the Tsuchikage's office. If she was the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage, what better place to start searching for her rather than there?

When I arrived, I received so many blank stares it wasn't even funny. All the eyes made me feel self-conscious. I pulled up my bandana at times to make sure that no one knew that I was part of the Baaten clan. It was times like these I wished Ayumu was here because he would actually make coming to such a place seem like the most natural thing in the world. Still, he was angry with me so I guessed there was no way he would save me this time.

I asked around for Kurotsuchi and was told that she was on the roof training. I didn't know how to get to the roof - so I just jumped out of the window and used my Earth element type to ride up to the roof. People were probably thinking I was a hoodlum if they looked from below, but I was just getting up to the roof - once I was done I was going to return it to its regular state. Seriously, if they didn't want people to use these means to get on the roof, they should have made a map or something. Not everyone had a great deal of knowledge of directions.

Anyway, once I reached the roof, I saw a slim figure with their back facing me. I assumed this to be Kurotsuchi so I decided to take a moment to try and see if I remembered her at all. From where I could see, she had short straight black hair kind of like Momma's. She was wearing a dusty looking red shirt, the signature color for Iwagakure ninjas. Only her right arm had a sleeve while the other one was the only give away to the fact that she had black gloves on. She wore beige armor around her torso which let parts of her top hang down making it almost like a skirt. She wore matching red tights under the shirt with chain mail trailing down her perfect legs. On her feet were black shoes which matched her hair nearly perfectly.

Before I could react, a kunai whizzed past my face. Startled, I looked up and saw Kurotsuchi facing me in the air, a fist ready to pound me. Her dark eyes evoked a threatening air between the two of us. Reacting fast, I jumped back onto my hands to avoid the punch. I back flipped a few times since she continuously tried to land a hit on me. Finally, her assault ended and I halted the back flips, sliding down on the flat of my feet.

"Wait! Stop! I didn't come to fight! Are you Kurotsuchi?" I called to her. She pulled out another kunai and squinted her eyes as if she didn't believe me.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" She asked.

"I just want to know if you recognize me." I told her honestly, trying to get her off the offensive. Still, she didn't put down her kunai, so I continued, "My name is Chiasa Yamaguchi. I used to live in Iwagakure a long time ago."

Slowly, the kunai lowered a bit and her eyes softened a little bit upon hearing my name, "Chiasa…? Could it be…?" Sauntering toward me still with a careful air about her, until we were face-to-face. She scanned me closely, seemingly trying to make sure everything she marked about me to be perfectly accurate.

Just when I was least expecting it, she latched onto me, pulling me into a bear hug. I could almost hear my bones cracking until she set me back down again with a happy giggle - the complete opposite personality than what she first displayed, "It's been forever, Chiasa! How have you been? We should catch up! Come on, let's walk and talk!" Before I could even say how I've been, she grabbed my wrist and jumped over the side of the roof. Of course, since we were both Earth type users, we just made a rock to break our fall.

"First and foremost, what the hell are you doing here!" Kurotsuchi softly hissed at me, "You know that the Baaten clan was kicked out of Iwagakure - if they figure you out, you're going to get kicked out faster than I could even blink dirt out of my eye!" I laughed, feeling extremely nostalgic. If only I could remember stuff that we did together. That is, _if_ we did anything together. We may only be acquaintances, after all. If only I knew.

"Yeah, that's why I have this bandana on. To avoid being caught." I answered.

She rolled her eyes, "That's _so _going to work." Then she took a hold of my hand, her eyes sparkling, "Let me take you to my favorite restaurant in all of Iwagakure! I could even get you the specialty dish. It would be the perfect place to catch up!"

"All right, but I won't be getting anything. My brother and I already ate." I said, rubbing my belly, thinking of paying for all that food with an annoyed twinge surging through my body. Kurotsuchi nodded in understanding and dragged me toward the direction of the restaurant she was talking about. The feel of her hand in mine felt so… natural. I guessed we had a little bit of a relationship. I wished I found out to what degree before I had to go back home tomorrow.

The restaurant that Kurotsuchi took me too was a bit too fancy for my taste so I was kind of lucky that I wasn't getting anything. There were chandeliers all over the ceiling lighting up the place exquisitely in such a rich way. There were tables of all sizes covered in white diamond shaped cloths. Candles in different numbers of candle holders were lit beautifully on every table in the restaurant. Waiters and waitresses dressed in rich clothing bustled here and there to fulfill orders. I could only gaze in awe at the sight of the place.

"Kurotsuchi, this is a bit much, isn't it?" I asked, but she just ignored me and walked over to a seat by a mosaic window. The table had an array of colors all over it from the window and now on us now that we sat in the spot. I sat down across from Kurotsuchi in a luxurious chair that I sank into. Almost immediately our order was taken. That really surprised me - it seemed like they were so busy so how could they make time for us already? Anyway, Kurotsuchi made her order while I just decided to get a glass of water.

"So… what brings you back to Iwagakure, Chiasa? It's been fifteen years - why did you decide to come back only now?" She began. I looked down at my necklace and clutched onto it having a strange feeling that it was giving me courage.

"Well, yesterday I was told that my family used to live in Iwagakure. I don't have any memories of it since I was told that I had gotten surgery to receive the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra. Anyway, I decided to see what I could remember when I came here and…," I trailed off, looking down at the necklace again, but didn't have the strength to bring it up yet.

"Oh yeah… I remember that. The old man told me about what happened to you." Kurotsuchi commented, not waiting to hear what I had to say. In a way, I was grateful that she didn't, "That must suck to have that thing inside of you - well, a part of it, that is. So it shocked out all the memories out of you or something?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I can only remember brief moments of the past."

"Do you remember me? Surely you can't forget this gorgeous face." Kurotsuchi said, pointing at herself with a flashy smile. I giggled a bit at the sight, but seriously considered whether I remembered her. She remembered me almost instantly - so why didn't I have the same reaction? Sure, I felt that a part of me knew her, but I couldn't quite recall everything. Not like when I went into my room.

"A bit, I think. Maybe if you tell me a little bit about yourself…?" I suggested which made her smirk. She must like to talk about herself. She really did seem like that type of girl - I had to admit. I knew that was rude, but it was true.

"Well, you already know my name… so… I'll start with the stuff I like." I nodded for her to continue and so she did. She told me everything about herself: Her likes; her dislikes; when her birthday was; her favorite color, animal, things to do, hobbies, etc.; and even what her cup size was. As she talked about herself, her food came, yet even that didn't stop her from talking like a conveyor belt. I just smiled and nodded, making sure to keep her talking. I had to admit, after filling me in of this knowledge, a sudden memory sparked inside of my mind. I was hoping this would happen. I really wanted to know about my past.

_A young Kurotsuchi sauntered up to me in the same fashion she did when told her my name. I was playing in the sand with the boy in the picture. I could fully see his face now, yet I didn't hear his name. Every time I would use it the name was cut out as if the memory was edited by someone. Kurotsuchi took a hold of the boy's arm and tugged on him._

"_Come on, Nii-san! Let's go play tag!" She said to him._

"_Hey, I was playing with him first!" I shouted at her standing up. Kurotsuchi faced me with an angry glint in her eyes. I flinched under them, but my resolve didn't waver._

"_You _always _hang out with Nii-san. Why can't you go play with someone else for once? I hardly hang out with Nii-san - it's like you _love _him or something." Kurotsuchi shot back. The boy and I turned to each other and both snorted out laughs._

"_We're only friends Kurotsuchi." The boy told her, making her release him._

_She looked a little hurt at the fact that he kind of jerked his arm away from her like she was a disease, "But why can't I play with you, Nii-san? Do you hate me?" With that, Kurotsuchi fell on her knees and began crying. The boy turned to me, not knowing what to do. I kind of felt bad that she got that message from the boy. I knew that he considered her a friend as well. Walking over to Kurotsuchi, I offered her my hand. She stopped crying a little bit to stare at my hand as if it was a foreign object. I smiled gently at her._

"_Instead of fighting over him, why don't we all play together?" I suggested. Through her tears, Kurotsuchi smiled a little bit, taking my hand. I helped her up and she wiped her eyes to get the tears out. Then as a threesome, we all began playing together - smiles all on our faces. That was how I became friends with Kurotsuchi_…

"Chiasa, are you listening?" Kurotsuchi waved a hand in front of my face. Blinking back to the present, I gave her a nervous smile. She seemed a bit annoyed at the fact that I sort of tuned her out, but in return I told her that I just remembered the day we became friends. She smiled at the memory as well seeing as it came easily to her. I was glad she was there to verify that the memory was real rather than something that came into my head.

"I guess you owe me one for helping you remember." Kurotsuchi said, crossing her arms in a high-and-mighty kind of way. I smirked at her slyly. Then she looked around the room which made me curious as to what she was thinking. Leaning forward, she whispered to me, "Do you remember the boy at all?"

I shook my head, "No. That's… kind of why I came to you." She acted a bit hurt, but from the knowing smirk she had on her face, she was just kidding.

"Of course you would come to ask about _him_ rather than _me_." She said sarcastically. I didn't reply, I just listened close, feeling my heart pounding in my chest. Was she going to tell me about the boy? Why was I so nervous? He was my best friend wasn't he? "Well, I suppose he was a part of your past too. So, I'll fill you in; the boy… his name is Deidara." As soon as she said his name, it echoed across my head multiple times. It was so uncannily familiar to me, as if it were my own name. Blurry images thrashed around in my head as if carried around by a powerful hurricane. I couldn't decipher any of them - there was just too much of them going around in my head all at once. I had to hold onto my head to make sure I was still conscious. Kurotsuchi luckily brought me back to reality by setting a gloved hand on my shoulder.

"Are you all right, Chiasa? You look like you're going to be sick." she asked, concerned.

"I-it's nothing. The name is just so familiar to me that so many memories came at me too fast." I explained. Kurotsuchi's face softened after I told her that. I didn't want her to stop telling me about the boy - Deidara - though. My heart was pounding even worse than before.

"Should I stop? Maybe I'm overloading you with the past." Kurotsuchi wondered. I shook my head, setting my hand on my lap to make it seem to her that I was perfectly fine. Though, my head was aching to be honest. The locked memories were trying so hard to keep secret, but I wanted to destroy the bonds to learn more about Deidara.

"All right… just tell me when to stop, OK?" She told me. With a firm nod, Kurotsuchi sighed a bit, as if regretting herself to tell me about the memory. Of course, she was friends with him too, so it wasn't much of a surprise if she got upset if remembering was bad enough, "Hmm… right now he'd be nineteen years old, huh? I haven't thought about him much ever since he left."

"Where did he go?" I asked, incredibly curious.

She shrugged, "No idea; he just got upset that no one appreciated his art and left." Kurotsuchi looked down at her lap, "Then again, after you were gone, he seemed to get a short temper with everything. He used to be so cool, patient and stuff… then afterwards he just got frustrated with everything the Tsuchikage or Iwagakure did. He wouldn't tell me anything that was going on with him - he mostly kept to himself…," She paused, sighing. I felt bad that I brought it up, considering how distressed she looked. We were supposed to be catching up as well. Then I brought Deidara up and she looked like she didn't want to talk about it. Still, the fact that I wanted to know more about him made me stay quiet about asking her if she wanted to stop.

"Anyway, I'm supposed to be talking about the past. Well, the most I can remember is that you two did everything together. When I say everything I mean everything. You were as close as any two people can get. No wonder a lot of people thought you two were going to get married when you got older." At this, Kurotsuchi wiggled her eyebrows. I blushed; I never really had a special someone within the clan which I thought out to be normal. Sure, I thought some men were attractive, but never to the point where I would date them. I probably only thought Deidara out to be someone like that to me, no doubt. We were only young when I hung out with him - then, there was no such thing as love.

"Oh yeah, you two would always go to this place together just before the time you left, if I can recall correctly. Yeah… when you two would go sometimes I would try to come as well, but you'd always say that it was you guys' special place. You didn't even tell your parents where it was. You seriously took secrecy to another level."

"Do you happen to remember where it was?" I asked, hoping I didn't annoy her by interrupting her explanation.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Hmm… I _may _have an idea where it is. Wanna go see it?" Standing up I agreed almost right away. Kurotsuchi laughed at my eagerness and also stood up as well. She paid for her dinner and we set off to Deidara's and my secret place with Kurotsuchi leading the way.


	4. IV - Kimi no Kioku (Memories of You)

Kurotsuchi led the way up till a certain point: the edge of a forest. Though the forest had trees falling or laying on the ground, taller grass, fewer leaves on the trees and all that - the place was like a memory of a dream. Without even thinking, I made my way through the trees and the reeds that blocked the path inside the forest. Kurotsuchi called my name, but I didn't even turn around. For some reason, it was like the forest was beckoning me to it; inviting me inside its maze-like interior. Even if it was covered with obstacles and stuff, I still somehow knew exactly where I was going. Kurotsuchi had to struggle around everything to catch up to me. Knowing she'd be just fine, I kept going.

After making through twists and turns with just my gut feeling, I made it to a place that matched the clearing in my dream almost perfectly. There was that stream on the right with its little waterfall and the frogs and the fireflies that flew or jumped away upon seeing me appear in the clearing. The same dew-covered grass at my feet, the same sounds that filled my ears. My jaw unhinged itself as my heart rapidly played its beat in my chest from shock.

Rustling and grunting could be heard behind me, "I told you to wait, Chiasa! Why didn't you stop for even for a minute?" When she stumbled into the clearing after nearly tripping over a moldy fallen tree, she took in the clearing as well. She whistled a bit at the sight - probably as taken as I was with it.

"This is it; this is the secret hideaway." I informed her.

"Huh. I never thought Deidara to appreciate beauty so much as to choose a place like this to meet with you." Kurotsuchi commented, walking to my side to nudge her elbow in my arm, "So, what kind of stuff did you two do here? Remember anything? Oooh, did you two kiss?" She giggled at her own joke. I sort of chuckled as well - thinking of two little kids running away to a place only they knew about to kiss. The thought was unlikely.

"I don't think so. Though…," I looked down at the necklace and clutched it inside of my palm, "…I remember getting this necklace from him here, I believe." Kurotsuchi raised an eyebrow and stared down at my hand. She asked if she could take a look at it and I allowed her. After all, I trusted her a lot since I had that memory of becoming friends with her. When she peered inside at the tiny pictures, she nodded her head.

"Yeah, that's definitely Deidara." she verified for me.

"I wonder what he's doing now…," I wondered aloud, walking slowly around the clearing with my hands behind my back. Kurotsuchi seemed to think to herself over something as I said that - probably trying to think of more things of the past for me to try and remember. The clearing was a really big hint, though nothing immediately hit me. I wished they would all just come back to me now rather than later.

"Well, Deidara was a big stink when it came to art. Now that I think about it - that was why he left Iwagakure in the first place. He claimed no one 'appreciated' his art and so he just left the village. That big idiot also blew parts of the village up in his temper tantrum." Kurotsuchi fumed. I laughed.

"That's something he would do." It was then that I paused. Even Kurotsuchi lifted her head to face me with wonder. How could I make an assumption about someone I really didn't have a clue about? That freaked me out. Why was it coming back to me but not in an obvious way that I could tell immediately?

"Um…," I avoided eye-contact, "…forget I said that."

Kurotsuchi smirked at me, "What's going on here? Seems to me that you remember and you're just not willing to tell me." I waved my arms at her frantically. I didn't want her to think of me a liar.

"No! That's not it! It just kind of slipped out!" I protested.

"Mmm-hmm… I see how it is." she replied unbelieving.

"An-anyway… so what else should I know about him?" I turned around suddenly, "What does he look like? I've got a picture of him, but it doesn't really show me what color his hair was and stuff." Kurotsuchi sat down on the dewy grass and stared up at the sky - lost in memories just as I was; probably even more so since she actually had memories to ponder over.

"His hair was blonde… with crystal blue eyes. He was a really short guy - even I was taller than him. Everyone used to make fun of him for his height. Except you; you'd always stick up for him when he got bullied and stuff and he would return the favor for you. Man, you guys were the perfect team. You always had each other's backs; it kind of made me jealous." Kurotsuchi brought her knees up to her face - probably feeling embarrassed for feeling that way and making it known. I didn't penalize her for it, after all, why should I? I had a really good friend while she probably just had a few friends that she wasn't as close to.

I came up to her and sat down next to her in attempts to comfort her. I really didn't know what to say to make her feel any better, but I hoped my company was enough. It was getting hard to see; the sun was nearly down but it was still clear to me that she had a frown on her face. I never liked to see anyone upset so I usually tried my best to help someone when they're down.

She continued, "It's strange though, it was mostly Deidara who got made fun of when we were all kids. He was always made fun of for his size - like I said earlier - and he was always called a girl. I guessed this was after you left when he began to grow his hair out, but his hair was really long the few days before he left. Not only was his art unappreciated, they also called him a girl. It was kind of sad that you weren't there to help him out." Kurotsuchi turned to me, a smile now on her face, "I always thought it was cute when I guy came to help the girl from bullies, but after seeing you two, I thought it was cute that you were the one coming to his aid."

I chuckled at the thought of me making bullies back off for Deidara so he wouldn't have to be sad or angry at them. I guessed even when my memories were wiped clean, I still remained somewhat the same person I was then, "Was he the type to get all embarrassed when he was helped out and say stuff like, 'I could've taken them by myself!'?"

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened, "Yes! He was exactly that type of person! Except maybe he'd go, 'Just back off next time, un!'" We both laughed at the silly catchphrase at the end of the sentence and the voice Kurotsuchi made to imitate him.

"All this talk about him really makes me want to see him again. I really wish I knew where he was right now…," I said sighing after laughing.

Kurotsuchi looked down at her lap, "I really didn't want to say this, but… there's been word going around that he's part of an organization called the Akatsuki." At the name, I nearly fell backwards. The Akatsuki!? That band of rogue ninjas? Why would he join them? He had no real qualms against Iwagakure other than they didn't appreciate his art, as far as I knew. So what would compel him to join such a band?

"What?!" I coughed out, "B-but you told me earlier that you didn't know where he went!"

"Apparently it's true." said Kurotsuchi looking really guilty, "What I told you before was partially true because I don't know where the Akatsuki is; but I told you that because I didn't want to worry you. I just wanted to tell you about your past and let you focus on that." Though I was happy for her concern, I didn't like the way she didn't just tell me beforehand. No wonder that lady before seemed to get tense at the mere mention of him. Kurotsuchi also whispered the subject to me like it was some sort of x-file no one liked to talk about.

I sucked in a breath, "So… my best friend is a rogue ninja…,"

"Sounds like the title of a novel." Kurotsuchi tried to make the subject light. In a way, she did; a little. I was able to crack a small smirk. Still, the thought that he was part of the Akatsuki made me feel a little uneasy. I had been wanting to meet with him, been wondering what he was doing, been wondering where he was… when he was a villain all along. Now I was unsure as to what to do. Just leave my past be? Pursue it further?

_Why did you join the Akatsuki, Dei-Dei?…_

Whoa. Dei-Dei? Seriously, where did my mind pull that from? Shaking my head, I turned to Kurotsuchi for one last question regarding that nickname, "I probably have to go soon; I've got a mission at noon tomorrow. So, one more quicky question?"

"Fire away." Kurotsuchi said friendly.

"Did I happen to call Deidara… Dei-Dei?" At this, Kurotsuchi rose both her eyebrows then began laughing really loudly. I waited until she was through laughing, chuckling a bit myself a few times since I felt really awkward just standing there while she laughed away.

When her laughter subsided, she said, "All the time, Chiasa; all the time."

After parting ways with Kurotsuchi, I walked alone down the darkened streets, thinking that Deidara and I must have also walked these streets together. I wonder if he even thought of me anymore. Sure, we were best friends, but who knew what a few years of separation did to what he felt about me. I kicked at a rock laying on the ground. So far the only memory that I got from meeting - well, reuniting - with Kurotsuchi was the time I first became official friends with her. It was disheartening that I didn't remember anything about him. Maybe I had to meet with him in person in order to get those memories back. Still, he was a part of the Akatsuki - so how was I even going to find him let alone ask him if he remembered me?

Sighing as I entered Ayumu's and my hotel room, I was so not prepared for a pillow to connect with my face. When it fell from my face, I saw Ayumu standing next to the door, his eyebrows furrowed with fury. I noticed that in his hands was the note that left him before going out to search for information about Deidara.

"You left without me?!" he yelled.

I shrugged, "Well, since you were being so sore about the whole paying thing…," Ayumu smacked me with the pillow again. I grabbed the pillow from him with rage, my teeth grinding, "What the hell, Ayumu! You didn't need to hit me twice!"

"What if you were found out? Even attacked?" he demanded.

"The fact of the matter is that I didn't get attacked! Even if I did, I could've defended myself!" I shouted back, swinging the pillow his way. He blocked the pillow with his arm and threw it across the room.

"Still, I'm your older brother; therefore I should be taking care of you! You can't just do as you please in a place like this, you idiot!" The fact that he counted me as a poor little female enraged me. I never liked being considered weak - probably due to the fact that I was born without access to my Kekkai Genkai which alienated me from the clan a little bit. I thought that because he was my brother, he saw me a bit differently than that.

"You don't need to breathe down my neck, though!" I countered.

"I'm not; all I'm saying is that you could've waited for a little bit until I was finished being angry with you!" Ayumu returned.

"Who knew how long that was going to take?"

"Only a moment! Now, where did you go?"

I sighed. Not only did my headache from before come back, I felt extremely tired. All that I learned today was seriously wearing me out, "I went to the Tsuchikage's office to search for a person named Kurotsuchi."

"Kurotsuchi?" Ayumu repeated, his nose wrinkling in confusion. All of a sudden, his eyes sparked in recognition, "Oh yeah, that chick that always annoyed you for hanging around with that kid for so long. I remember her. How is she doing?"

"Great. She seemed really happy to see me." I told him. It was surprising at how fast our fight ended - probably not completely, but for now the atmosphere wasn't tense, "She told me about the boy in the picture."

"Oh yeah? Fill me in." Ayumu said. With that, I began telling him everything I learned about Deidara; starting from his name to that the fact that he's part of the Akatsuki. When I told him that part, he laughed. He wasn't concerned at all like I was when I learned of this news, "Wow. He must have missed his cute little friend so much that he joined the Akatsuki."

I grumbled, "Yeah, cute. Since I would have such a huge influence on him." Ayumu continued to chuckle as he turned to go into the bathroom to change into his pajamas. When he came out again with a toothbrush in his mouth, he glared at me like a bipolar.

"Don't think I'm letting you off the hook, Chi-Dei. I'm still angry at you for leaving without telling me." He told me.

"'Chi-Dei'? What does that mean?" I asked.

He smirked, "You know; the couple everyone is looking forward to's name put together. Cute, huh?" I threw a pillow at him but he just laughed at me some more. I grabbed for my pajamas and went into the bathroom.

"Just because we were close friends, doesn't mean that we're a couple." I told him from inside the bathroom,

"Besides, we haven't seen each other in years; we hardly know each other anymore." I heard a faint mumbling from beyond the wall that sounded like a 'Sure thing, Chi-Dei'. I opened the door, only half-dressed, "What was that?"

"Nothing. Just hurry up and get changed. I want to sleep." He told me, getting under the blankets. Rolling my eyes, I returned to getting changed. After I was finished getting ready for bed, I hopped into bed, snuggling into the warm pillow and blanket duet. Pressing my nose into the pillow, I fell into a deep sleep.

_"This is stupid, Dei-Dei. Why are we doing this?" I asked as we snuck into the Tsuchikage's office trying not to be detected. Deidara turned around quickly, facing me with a joking smirk on his face. I could now clearly see his every feature. Like Kurotsuchi had told me, his hair was blonde with his bangs covering one of his eyes. His hair was the same length as in the picture I had of him. His eyes were the exact crystal color that I had imagined when she described them. He was wearing a light navy blue shirt with chan mail underneath. A white sash wound around his middle, acting like a belt for his pants which matched his shirt. On his feet were the usual black Iwagakure shoes._

_He shushed me, "We'll be caught if we talk too loud!"_

_"But is there any point to this?" I complained as he quickly placed a hand over my mouth. He looked around to see if anyone was coming. When the coast was clear, he placed his hands on his hips and sighed._

_"It's to prove our worth as ninjas, I told you!" Deidara said. I puffed out my cheeks with anger and stubbornly turned my back to him._

_"We're too young to be ninjas." I stated._

_"Next year I'll start training to be a ninja." He said rather proudly. I turned around furiously, assuming his statement to be an insult to my age. I raised my arms in the air._

_"OK! I know that I'm three years younger than you! Doesn't mean you have to rub in my face, Dei-Dei!" I shouted at him. He was surprised at my outburst. It was evident on his face seeing as his eyes were wide._

_"I wasn't rubbing it in your face." Deidara said simply. Even though I was proved wrong, I turned around again and crossed my arms in anger. Deidara tried to make me face him again, but I wouldn't. Finally, he gave up and just took me by the wrist and dragged me across the Tsuchikage's office._

_"Hey! Let go! I'll scream and let everyone know what you're planning!" I threatened. He didn't take my threat seriously because he just smirked much like before._

_"Come on, don't you want to stuff the Tsuchikage's hat full of mud and feathers?" Deidara asked. I paused for a long time. Yes, I wanted to make the Tsuchikage a chicken. No, I wouldn't admit it. When I didn't answer to that due to my stubbornness, he let out a low laugh, "Do I even have to ask? Of course you want to!"_

_As soon as I was given the chance to put the mud in the Tsuchikage's hat, I nearly forgot all about being angry at Deidara and was even giggling myself. After fulfilling the deed, we both scurried out of the office the way we came. Though, we weren't as lucky as we were when we came in - on the way back, we bumped into Kurotsuchi who was half-asleep. Since it was the middle of the night, it was imminent that if we woke anyone at all they would be sleepy from just waking up._

_"Nii-san? Chi-chan? What's goin' on…?" she asked in a groggy voice. Holding back a laugh, I said in reply to her:_

_"There's going to be a chicken festival tomorrow; make sure you come!" Deidara also held back a full laugh at my joke while the sleepy Kurotsuchi just nodded slowly, continuing on her way to wherever it was she was going._  
_ As soon as she was gone, Deidara and I began releasing our pent up laughs. For a good minute, we just stood there, laughing at how funny Kurotsuchi looked and sounded when she was only half-awake. When we heard an adult voice that sounded like the Tsuchikage, we immediately stopped our giggles and ran out the doors as if we were a bunch of hoodlums._

_When we made it out into the village out of harm's way, we checked behind ourselves to see if anyone was following us. Luckily, there wasn't anyone around. Panting and supporting my torso by leaning my hands on my knees, I felt a wave of relief surge throughout my whole body. We weren't caught even after being somewhat being found by Kurotsuchi. Behind me, Deidara began laughing again. When I turned around to face him his eyes were closed and there was a big smirk drawn out on his face, showing his teeth and everything._

_"Mission complete!" he said triumphantly. Rolling my eyes, I held my hand out for a high-five and he took it and pulled me into a bro hug. The moon glazed down on us, reminding us what time it was. Parting ways with Deidara, I then began wondering what the Tsuchikage would look like with all those feathers on him._

Slowly, I awoke from my dream of the past. I looked over first to see if Ayumu was awake yet. I should have guessed that he was still asleep he always liked to sleep in for hours upon end. Anyway, I found that this time, the dream made me smile. The last dream I had of Deidara my face ended up with tears all over it. I guessed that this memory was a bit more pleasant than the last.

Shuffling out of bed, I got up and walked over to the bathroom to have a shower. A nice hot shower always helped me think better in the mornings. Turning on the tap to super hot, I stepped inside the shower, the water slapping me with the steaming heat that I enjoyed. So… Deidara and I were the type of kids to get into trouble a lot. I snickered. Putting mud and feathers inside of the Tsuchikage's hat? Those were the kind of things we would do together? I wondered what other things we would do to cause a ruckus. Perhaps put a tack on the teacher's chair? Judging from the fact that we would do overused pranks, I really don't doubt that one.

Thinking of his care-free smile, I began to become curious about why he would join the Akatsuki. He didn't seem like the type of kid to become an evil man. It was usually a kid with a terrible childhood and grew up hating everyone and everything. Yet, I grew up with him and he seemed like any ordinary kid. You know, people not appreciating your art wouldn't appreciate it any more or less if you blew up the village and joined a rogue ninja band.

It was funny, ever since I learned of him, he became my number one topic for my brain and I to have a conversation about. I remembered Kurotsuchi - yet, I didn't think of her as much as I did Deidara. I guessed that was because we were a lot closer than I was with Kurotsuchi. All this thought about him made me want to meet with him again… but he was a part of the Akatsuki - not someone you really want to sit down and have a conversation with. Still, if he was my best friend in the past, then that shouldn't have changed, should it? I mean, we got into trouble together and we stood up for each other all those years… surely he wouldn't just forget about all of that and never speak with me again. I was so confused as to what to do now since I wanted to meet up with him again but I wasn't quite sure how and also I didn't have a clue as to where to begin looking for him. Maybe when I left later today I'd keep an eye out for him…

"Chi-Dei! Hurry up in there!" Ayumu's voice shouted from beyond the bathroom door. He was knocking obnoxiously loud, "Not only do I need to get in there, but I also want to eat before we leave - so make sure you're out in one minute!"

I stuck my tongue out at the door, "Wait your turn, Meister!" Even though I shot back at him, I hurried anyway. He was right in that we had to leave. Not only that, but I was hungry as a racehorse and that free food downstairs in the kitchen was calling my name. If I missed that chance I'd have to spend the rest of my money Ayumu made me spend yesterday.

As soon as I got out, Ayumu jumped in the bathroom while I scurried downstairs straight to the kitchen. I took a whole plate of waffles, bacon and eggs and ran to the nearest table before they slid off the plate. Taking the syrup, I bathed the waffles in the stuff and it ran over my bacon and eggs. That didn't stop me from getting up and grabbing a cup of coffee with about twenty packages of sugar in it. As I stirred the coffee around, I gobbled up some eggs. When I could hardly choke down the eggs, I slurped down about half of the sugar dissociated coffee. Everyone stared at me like I was some sort of animal - which I probably looked like to them. Though, it was a normal occurrence and Ayumu was way worse than I was.

When both of us finished our breakfast, we were about to head back to the Baaten clan's village, but at the gates we were surprised to see Kurotsuchi leaning on the gate walls. When she saw us approach, she pulled me into another giant hug, making me nearly throw up my breakfast I had just eaten.

"You're leaving already, huh?" she asked, somewhat sad. I nodded slowly, hating to leave her when I already just met with her again after all these years. She turned to Ayumu, "You're her brother? My name is Kurotsuchi. I… think I remember you. A bit."

Ayumu laughed, "Thanks. It feels nice to be remembered. A bit." Kurotsuchi grinned at that, but then turned to me again and held out her hand which revealed a picture in a frame. Taking it from her hands, I peered down at it with Ayumu looking down as well from my shoulder. I saw that it was a picture of the three of us - Kurotsuchi, Deidara and myself. We were all smiling with our arms around each other. A small smile crept onto my face with a single tear running down from my eye.

"It's us… all those years ago…," I whispered, stroking the glass.

"Thought you would want to have this," Kurotsuchi said, "It might help you remember your past a little bit more." I faced Kurotsuchi, pulling her into a hug. She was surprised by this gesture no doubt seeing as she was always the one to initiate a hug. Still, she wrapped her arms around me as well. She was being so helpful to me to the point that I found that there may not even be a way to repay her for all she had done for me. In the past and in the present.

"Thank you so much Kurotsuchi. I wish there was some way I could make up for your generosity." I told her genuinely. One side of my lips crept up into a smirk, "I promise that this time I won't forget you." All of us laughed at my joke.

She punched my arm lightly, "Don't even worry about, Chiasa. My only wish is that you could stay here in Iwagakure… though, due to the circumstances, that's not possible, huh?" Sadly, I shook my head. There was a really long silence between the three of us until Ayumu's head shot up and he gasped in shock.

"We've got to get going, Chiasa! Our mission begins soon!" Ayumu said, taking a hold of my arm and giving Kurotsuchi an apologetic look, "Sorry we have to leave so suddenly, but a duty is a duty, you know?"

"I understand." Kurotsuchi condoned, "Just make sure to visit often. Oh, and if I ever see stupid Nii-san again, I'll tell him you were looking for him." She paused, then added, "If that day ever comes." Being dragged along by Ayumu, I said a quick good-bye and thank you to Kurotsuchi who raised her arm way up in the air and waved.

Papa was _not_ happy when we got home.

I knew he was even if he didn't display it on his face. There was just this incredibly awful atmosphere in the air that felt like it was drowning me. I tried to act casual by hanging up my chuunin vest and taking my shoes off in the same fashion I always did after I came home from a mission. I tried to walk past him like nothing was different between us, but he just said my name in a really stone cold voice and told me to sit at the kitchen table. I flinched pretty hard when he said my name in such a manner like he froze me to the spot with his dirty glare and commanding voice. Though, I did as he told me and sat down across from him.

"Your mother told me that you took Ayumu somewhere yesterday; and here you are, a day later." He began, his voice not betraying what he was really feeling. If he really let his emotions get the better of him I would be in prison locked up in the lowest reaches of the hold, strapped down onto the floor with a straitjacket on so I wasn't able to leave again. I lowered my head so as to not meet with his calm fury, "Tell me: where did you two go?"

There was no point in lying to him; he would eventually find out. No matter what I did I was dead, "Uh… we went to… um, Iwa…gakure…?" I told him hesitantly. I closed my eyes as Papa slammed his fist down on the table so hard that there was a dent in it. My heart began beating in my ears from fright. I was dead. So, so dead. Slowly, I opened one eye, then the other to see that he was trying to hold back his anger.

"Why did you go there of all places?!" He demanded.

"I…I-I wanted t-to…," I squeaked out, though he slammed down on the table again and shouted at me, telling me to speak up. Out of fear I shouted, "I wanted to know more about my past!" Papa didn't even seem to take that into consideration as he stripped off my bandana, probably understanding its significance.

"What if they saw your tattoo, Chiasa?! Do you know what they'd do to you when they realize that you broke the Tsuchikage's law?!" Papa demanded, but I stood up and took my bandana back and stuffed into my pocket with anger now in my eyes.

"They didn't see it though! I was perfectly fine the whole time!" I shot back.

"Don't raise your voice at your father!" Papa warned.

"It's the only way you'll hear me!" I countered.

"Don't you see how much danger you were in when you got there?" Papa asked me, still flaming mad, but lowered his voice back down to normal so that we could have a decent conversation to chastise me, "I know Ayumu was with you, but that still doesn't cut it. It's a village full of ninjas against our presence to be there."

"No, Papa. You don't understand! There are good people living there. It's just that the Tsuchikage was driven into a corner an—,"

"Look what your journey has made you into! You're supporting our enemies now!" Papa interrupted, dismayed at the fact I was trying to see to reason with both sides of the party. I always sided with the Baaten clan since I was on their side - but now that I've seen that Iwagakure felt like more of a home to me than here, I was neutral. Though, Papa didn't understand since he actually remembered being kicked out of Iwagakure.

"I'm not! I'm only saying that the Baaten clan drove the Tsuchikage into the only decision he had at the time!" I protested. In a way, I felt that this was true. If the Baaten clan had just backed off when the Tsuchikage wouldn't grant them with a higher standing in society, we would still be living there. I would still be friends with Dei-Dei…

"You know what they did to us. You know that it was because of them that you house the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra. You know all this, yet you still protest on their behalf?" Papa shook his head disappointedly, "Chiasa… I thought you out to be better than this; to support your clan… yet, you decided to vouch for the enemy…,"

"Papa… you're making this more difficult than it has to be." I said solemnly.

"Am I!?" He shouted again, causing the room to quake with his strong voice, "You're the one speaking out in front of me that you'd basically hand yourself over to Iwagakure if they so chose to fight back on us!" It was my turn to slam the table with fury. I didn't strike it quite so hard as Papa did, but it silenced him for a moment to listen to me.

"Do you think that I would actually betray my own people for something so dumb as a war?! I'm not stupid Papa; you're the one making it seem like I'm some devotee to Iwagakure because I spent one day there! And being who I am, I am given valid reasons to hate this prideful clan! They forced me without so much as consent into housing the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra, not only that, but they sealed up my Kekkai Genkai and made me become some weapon used for their pathetic war against Iwagakure who has done _nothing except trying to avoid this_. Why should I choose a side when all those things are against me?!" I ended my little rant with huffing and puffing. I didn't realize how much yelling took out of you.

Papa was silent for a long time. It was as if he was evaluating me closely; replaying everything I said in his head over and over. His mouth was in a tight line which was evident to that. I sat back down and his eyes followed me. Instantly, I felt bad that I just said everything I was feeling to Papa like that. When I was angry, my hidden feelings were usually brought to the surface and broke the dam I was holding them back with. I could only hope that something I said to Papa got through to him so he wouldn't hit me or yell at me again.

"…I didn't know you felt that way, Chiasa…," Was what I heard. I looked up at Papa with fresh tears forming in my eyes. He was covering his mouth that was probably in a tight scowl with his hand, "…I really didn't know. I thought it would be easy to come to terms with the fact that you housed the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra if you loved the Baaten clan. …Yet, you hate the Baaten clan to the point that you really don't know who to go to. …I'm sorry for putting you through that…," With that, Papa got up and ran out of the door.

I stared at the door even after he left. I was so surprised that he just upped and left like that after that heated argument. Usually Papa didn't give up like that when it came to something he loved such as the Leader or the Baaten clan itself. Even though there was a faint shine in me that was proud for winning in the fight, the rest of me gloomed and fell into guilt. I really overdid it. Telling Papa how I really felt must have overwhelmed him.

Momma came up behind me, probably knowing it was all right to come out since the shouting ended, "Chiasa? Are you all right?" I nodded my head, rubbing at my eyes to make the tears leave my eyes so I could face Momma with an emotionless mask.

"Yeah. I'm OK… but Papa…," I replied softly.

"I'll speak with him. You go get ready." Momma told me. Nodding, I dragged my feet up the stairs while Momma exited the house.

Man, did I feel lousy. I felt like I sunk to the lowest of the low - worse than scum. I knew that my feelings were going to hurt him if he ever knew how I felt about the whole Baaten-Iwagakure rivalry thing. He was tough, but when it came to the Baaten clan he was about as soft as play dough. The fact that his own daughter thought of them as prideful jerks probably ripped a hole into his heart a little bit. What made it worse was that there was a small part of me that felt relieved that I got that across to him.

When I got into my room, I took off bandana from my pocket and set the picture that Kurotsuchi gave me down at my dresser with the mirror. Once more, I peered down at the picture and felt a bit of a smile form when I saw how silly and untroubled we seemed. It was as if the world couldn't touch us. I almost wanted to go back to that time. Then I shook my head and threw the picture down so I couldn't see it. It was beginning to make me feel once again that Iwagakure or the Tsuchikage wasn't at fault - but the Baaten clan was. How could I feel that way when I was a part of that clan? Did one day there make me what Papa thought me out to be - someone who would just flit over to the other side if they chose me to fight for them?

I stuffed my kitbag full of a ninja's necessities - twenty kunais, fifty shuriken stars, a few scrolls, a first aid pack and a few smoke bombs. After that, I filled it with a few extra clothes that weren't exactly fancy, but something to cover myself with. Then I packed a sleeping bag with my pillow and a warm quilt that Aunty made for me when I was born. I thought that I would need other things, but I just decided that Ayumu would supply me with anything else we may need since he was always prepared for any mission.

When I lugged my heavy kitbag down the stairs, I saw Ayumu standing there with a small, seemingly empty kitbag on his back. At first, I was going to ask him what he had in his bag, but I skipped the idea, thinking he would just reply with a really lame comeback like, 'The Baaten clan's family jewels.'

"Took you long enough. It took us nearly seven hours to get back since we were going faster than yesterday, but seriously." Ayumu said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and punched his arm as I threw my heavy kitbag over my shoulder and adjusted it securely.

"Yeah, yeah… keep talking _Meister_ I-Hate-Getting-Up-Past-Ten." I shot back.

He laughed which made the anger from before lessen. Although it wasn't completely gone, there was a relief in the air that made me feel that not everyone hated me for going to Iwagakure on a whim. I guessed that was because I dragged him along too, but it was partially because it was Ayumu's nature - he never hated you even if you made a stupid mistake. He would always be on your side if he believed in you. That was another reason I decided to bring him along with me on my journey.

"Well, should we be off, then?" Ayumu offered, smiling. When I nodded, he threw open the door to reveal a sea of people outside the door. As soon as their eyes landed on us, they began cheering their heads off. I turned to Ayumu who exchanged my glance. Before anything could be said or done, the nearest person lifted both Ayumu and myself into the air, the crowd carrying us all the way to the gates - our names being chanted. I didn't know why they were getting all cheery - I mean I haven't done anything yet to write down in your journal.

When we reached the end of the crowd, I saw Momma and Papa standing there with Aunty Kimiko and Leader. As we approached them, Momma and Papa caught the both of us. Just before Papa set me down, he whispered in my ear, "Make the clan proud."

That caused me to frown a bit. Didn't he hear my little rant that I shouted at him? I thought my feelings were spoken clearly to him, but apparently he was just going with what I was supposed to be feeling and didn't have it any other way. I sighed, guessing that I would never be able to convey what I was really feeling to Papa if he wasn't willing to listen to me to the best of his ability. I thought that because I was his daughter that would change even in the slightest, but apparently I was wrong.

Leader approached me, causing everyone to go right to their knees. Papa bowed the lowest, which made me somewhat sick. Though, I bowed down in front of Leader, who seemed to approve of my respect for him, "So, it's time Chiasa. Time for you to go off on your own - minus your brother Ayumu's presence - and tame the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra inside of you in order to make the Baaten clan great."

I swallowed my own self-respect in order to choke out, "Yes. It is." Leader moved around me to grab something from one of his personal servants. Telling me to rise, he passed something to me, making my fingers curl over it. When I saw what it was, I saw that it was bracelet of some kind. I knew that facing Leader even now would be against etiquette, but since I was leaving anyway, I decided to just go ahead and face him with inquiry.

"This bracelet has special properties that will protect you if the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra tries to consume you. Make sure you don't lose it." He told me. With a firm nod, I wrapped it around my wrist tight enough that it wouldn't slip off, but not too tight that it would block off my blood circulation.

Ayumu then rose as well behind me, putting a hand on my shoulder to ask if I was ready to go. I nodded again as I fixed the strap of my kitbag on my shoulder. Momma and Papa also stood and both gave me and Ayumu a tight hug that seemed to also have an 'I'm sorry' mixed in with an embrace of good luck and good bye. I returned the hug unreluctantly seeing as I probably wouldn't see them in a few months or so. My other relatives also came up to me and either gave me a handshake or a tight hug. My friends crowded around me, rhyming off a long tear wrenching speech of how much they would miss me. You know, I really felt special to hear them say something like that. Never again would I get the opportunity to hear them say stuff like that to me. I pulled them all into a parting hug.

Momma told me to take care of myself while handing me her special hairpin as a parting gift. It was a lily clip with sparkling topazes in the middle of it that gleamed in the sun. The gift was important to Momma so I really felt the need to take extra care of it. Aunty Kimiko came up to me with the gift of toiletries. She gave me a wink and a laugh while I just rolled my eyes. When I turned to Papa, in case he had anything to say to me or anything to give, he just gave me a passive glance like he didn't know who I was for a minute.

The scary part was, I felt like I really didn't know him either.


	5. V - The Nine Tailed Beast

I could feel a presence quite distinctly. Right behind me, it was. I didn't turn my head to whatever or whoever was behind me yet; if I did, then it would run away or seek another hiding place elsewhere. I decided to let it approach, then make my move as soon as it tried to strike. The presence made slinking movements, trying to remove the sound of moving grass from my ears. Though, the feeling that the thing was there was so great, there was no way I couldn't notice even without use of my ears. I was sitting on the grass, awaiting the time the thing and myself came into contact - be it offensive or not. My eyes were covered with a blindfold, making them useless to me and making me focus on my other senses. Since hearing and seeing were out of the question, I had to rely on sense of touch and the sense of the world around me. Those things with the other senses were used all the time; yet, by themselves were a chore and a half in order to utilize. One had to focus quite arduously in order to get anything from them.

Anyway, the presence didn't yield nor run away from me, it just steadily came closer. I assumed whoever it to be trying to attack me. Silently, I grabbed a kunai from my kitbag, hiding it behind a water bottle to make sure whoever it was not notice it. I slipped an explosive seal onto the kunai that was stuck to the water bottle so it would also be inconspicuous. Though I knew it was entirely dangerous, I made extra precautions ever since I left the Baaten clan's village since I didn't know what to expect at any given moment. I had to be prepared for anything. Like now, I was prepared to attack my attacker behind me.

Before I could finish putting away my water bottle, the presence behind me suddenly jumped into the air and I could hear the distinct sound of kunais clicking together. Reacting quickly, I got to my feet to back flip out of the way. Still, I got hit by a few kunais to the leg and my arm. I wasn't quite great with the blindfold on, but I was good enough not to get hit by all of the kunais. When I got out of range, or so I thought, I threw my kunai in the direction where the attacker had landed - a few feet away from me. I heard the explosion go off, but there was a swift pulling sound on the air that told me they had just gotten out of the way. Grunting with frustration, I was about to pull out some shuriken stars when I felt cold metal pressed up to my throat pointing at the most important vein.

"If I was a real assailant, you would be dead." I heard Ayumu's voice warn me as he put away his kunai. I took off my blindfold feeling incredibly weak. I had been at this training for two weeks now and I couldn't even find where my kunai pouch was. Sure, I could feel the presence of chakra well, but I couldn't quite get the hang of seeing where I was throwing and so usually took a wild guess - no doubt being my biggest weakness.

"You sure acted like a real attacker - what were you trying to do, kill me?" I asked as I tucked the blindfold into my kitbag and sat down again with defeat. Ayumu sat down next to me with raw fish in his hand. That meant that next time it was my turn to get the fish down at the river where I can't even see the stupid things. Ayumu was insistent and continued to rebuke the fact that there were no fish there. Still, how come every time he went he got some while when I looked, there was nothing there? I sighed.

"I had to create that fear that I was going to kill you in you. If I didn't, then it would seem like a game to you and wouldn't take the training seriously." Ayumu explained. He piked both fish and set them inside the fire that was created due to the explosive seal to cook them.

"Of course I take this training seriously." I shot back.

"Mmm-hmm… says the person who got bored last training session and decided to try and adopt a bunny that clearly had rabies." Ayumu chuckled as he watched the fish closely.

"Well, I thought he just ate something funny. And it was training since it was next to impossible to catch the little fart." I snorted.

"It wasn't even cute, Chi-Dei."

"Was so!"

Ayumu sighed, moving the fish around in the fire to let all sides get cooked. I crossed my arms and turned away from him with a huff. Who was he to decide that the bunny didn't look cute? The poor thing had the cutest twinkle in its eye… like it was figuring out many ways of how to kill you. Er… never mind.

I looked down at the necklace and scooped it in my palm. Nothing had come to me quite yet since the dream I had those few weeks since I left the Baaten clan village about the mud in the Tsuchikage's hat. I wished I knew other things about him other than those things. Something that told me about his personality a bit. Kurotsuchi told me he was patient and cool before I left, but I wanted to know if my personal experiences with him told me that what she said was true. I mean, when I left Iwagakure, he got all hot-headed at everything or so she told me. Was he like that even before when I knew him? I mean, if we did everything together then I would - or should - know his personality inside out. Still, all I knew was that he liked to pull pranks from time to time and other than that he was a normal kid. Unless there was some sort of trigger to make him leave Iwagakure…

Turning up to look at the sky, I thought to myself: _Where are you now, Dei-Dei? Are you looking up at the same sky as me - thinking of me like how I'm thinking of you? Or are you causing trouble somewhere because of the Akatsuki's influence?_

Ayumu tapped my arm getting me out of memories and passed me a well-cooked fish. Smiling at the gesture, I took the fish gladly and bit into it. All was silent between us still, me thinking of Deidara while Ayumu just engulfed his fish. In mere seconds it was gone whereas I still had all of the fish left to eat. Man, did that guy eat like a wild person or what?

"How do you suppose we unseal your Kekkai Genkai?" Ayumu asked me out of the blue while I was still nibbling away at the fish.

I turned to him, shrugging, "I don't know. If anyone could unseal it, you would think it would be Papa, right? With no leads as to what to start with, it will probably take us a long time to figure it out." Ayumu poked at his teeth with the stick his fish was piked onto thoughtfully. After some time, he threw the stick away and placed his hands together as his palms glowed with a mystic red light. That was the usual color the Omoiyarinoaru Hiiraa had rather than the usual medical ninjutsu that was normally used which was a light greenish blue color. The jutsu Ayumu was using on my arm was kind of like the medical ninjutsu, only it was just a common healing practice that all peoples in my clan could use (if they have their Kekkai Genkai available to them) and it healed in all parts of the arm (or another part of the body) rather than just one. Usually when healing, one had to focus on the certain part where the person was hurt, whereas our Kekkai Genkai made it unnecessary to us.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he moved his hands along my arm.

"Trying to find out where the seal is." Ayumu informed me, concentrating close to what he was doing, "Aunt Kimiko taught me how to do this with the common jutsu. Apparently, we are able to feel where the chakra is being disturbed, ruptured, and all that jazz when we use this technique. So, if they used a seal… I should be able to pinpoint where exactly the seal too—," He stopped at my back, gasping, "There it is! Found it!"

"You did?" I inquired, my heart skipping a beat with excitement.

"In the middle of your back, there's a sudden stop of your Kekkai Genkai chakra flow. Then… wait. What's this?" He paused a moment, placing cold fingertips on my back where he said the seal was. He pecked at it a few times, making goose bumps trail up my skin, "Hmm… there's something strong in there… probably the…,"

"Nine Tailed Beast." I finished for him.

He nodded, fingers going in circles on my back, "The red chakra enters your chakra circulatory system at the seal, going around in a swirl until it goes to…," He traveled around me to poke me in the forehead with two fingers, "…here. Your forehead."

"So, what does that mean?" I wondered.

"It means that the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra had taken a liking to your prefrontal cortex - the front part of your brain, in other words. It's also where concentration and emotions take place. In other words, if you concentrate on a certain emotion - one we don't know yet - then it should awaken the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra. I bet a thousand ryo that if the emotion is intense enough, the more the Beast's chakra will emerge." Ayumu stated. I was surprised at Ayumu's intellect in the matter. Of course, to be a Baaten clan ninja, one had to know the parts of the body in case of insane like surgery in stressful situations. I knew that, yet, I was impressed with the amount of stuff he knew about a matter he probably had no clue on. Then again… the Baaten clan were the ones who placed the chakra inside of me so it was no wonder that they passed on some of that knowledge about it to younger clan members.

I stood up thoughtfully, making my way toward a tree, "If that's the case, if I stubbed my toe, then it would awaken the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra…?" Ayumu was about to say something, but I already went ahead and lodged my toe into the tree. A ripping pain shot up from my toe to my fingertips as I heard the crack of my toenail.

"Uh… I was going to tell you that's not a good idea, but…," Ayumu coughed in his fist as I brought my foot up to my hands and held it gingerly.

"Fuck! My toe!" I shouted so loud that it scared a few birds away that were in the vicinity. Ayumu didn't do anything but sit on his ass and laugh at me. Tears even began to come into my eyes; my stupid toe hurt so damn much! I know I don't swear a lot of the time, but my toe was in so much pain that I didn't really give a shit at the moment. It didn't make me as angry as I much as I was in pain. I guessed the pain overrode the emotion. I turned to Ayumu, "Don't just sit there! Heal my damn toe!"

Even though he was still chuckling at me, he made his way over and began to cure my toe. Soon the pain subsided, but there was a dull ache that throbbed through it. The toenail even went back into place since the Omoiyarinoaru Hiiraa was the best of the best of healing. Sighing, I sat back down next to Ayumu who was still chuckling a bit. I punched him in the back of the head to make him stop, but it only made him laugh harder.

"Ugh will you shut up?!" I blasted at him. He didn't shut up like I told him to - he just kept laughing even though it was beginning to sound really fake. He probably realized this too, but still the laughing continued, "What did I just say, you moron?!"

"Chi-Dei…," Ayumu said to me, even though the laughing continued. My heart nearly stopped once I noticed that it wasn't he the one that was laughing. Immediately, the two of us jumped to our feet with kunais ready in our fists. In peripheral vision, there wasn't any give away as to who was the one letting out their persiflage laughter. A bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of my face while I anticipated their unexpected coming. Surely we would stand a chance in a fight with whoever had an eye on us in this clearing.

"Show yourselves already!" Ayumu shouted which echoed.

There was a slight pause and then all of a sudden, two men and one woman appeared in the clearing. They were most likely outlaws, judging from the fact that they weren't wearing forehead protectors.

"What a cheeky boy… calling us out like he owned us or something…," The woman said in a low voice. She kept fingering something at her hip, but I knew it wasn't a kunai because an experienced ninja would most likely hide the fact that they had something ready to throw at us. One of the men came up to us and studied us closely. Ayumu stepped up to them a little bit, covering me from their view just a tad. I felt bad that he felt obligated to protect me like I was royalty when we were brother and sister. Then again, the clan's greatness relies heavily on my success on this mission and if I failed… there probably wouldn't be another chance for a long time from now. Still… the fact that Ayumu would sacrifice his life for mine was just too much of an overbearing thought to have.

"Looks like these are the brats we were sent to find." The man who studied us meticulously said, turning to his partners. I didn't know what they meant by that, but I looked at Ayumu for some support, but he seemed just as lost as I was.

The man pulled out a sword and said to us, "We have nothing against you; we were sent to find and kill you is all. Don't hold it against us." He then ran fast toward Ayumu and I but Ayumu charged out at him as well, locking his blade against his kunai with sparks rising up between them from the touch of metal against metal.

"Who sent you?!" Ayumu demanded. The man threw him off of his blade, but didn't answer. The woman and the other guy came running after me so I threw down a smoke bomb to get a chance to perform some hand seals. Swerving to the right - around the smoke they were caught in - I made hands seals to perform an Earth type jutsu that I was taught by Momma.

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!" I shouted to which they both whipped their heads over in my direction. Underneath my feet a muddy dragon arose and opened its mouth to our assailants. It spat out multiple rapid fire mud bullets at them. They dodged the majority of them swiftly as if dancing. Though, they got hit by a few in the arm or the leg - but it wasn't enough to immobilize them from advancing toward me.

The guy was the one approached me first, with his finger up to his puckered lips and he blew out a giant fireball toward me. Reacting fast, I turned to run, but the woman snuck up behind me and held me by the throat. She was going to die too if she held me to the fire ball! Weakly raising my arms, I made a few seals to make an Earth Clay clone to slip away from her grasp. The real me made her way underneath the ground to sneak up to the guy.  
When I emerged from the ground, I kicked his chin so he was launched into the air away from me. When I looked back, my Earth Clay clone was burnt to ashes, yet the woman didn't even have remains so she was probably a shadow clone. Before I could plan anything more, the woman rushed me from the left with a kunai in hand. She tried to lodge it in my face, but I pushed her hand away from my face with all my might. The guy was slowly getting up from the corner of my eye; I had to get her off of me before he could attack me as well! Bringing my foot up between us, I kicked her away, but she didn't even lose her balance as she tossed an array of shuriken stars and kunai towards me. I jumped to avoid some of them - although some got my arm - but the guy jumped up as well and kicked me back to the ground.

I wiped the blood that was beginning to slip down the side of my face as I got back up again, not willing to be bested by a couple of outlaws. _But… I thought in my head as they began to perform hand seals and I did as well, I don't have a clue as to how to beat them. Besides, earth doesn't affect fire that much and I don't know what the woman has… hopefully anything but lightning. They seem well inversed about us, it seems. The way the guy knew I was going to jump rather than just go underground before was evident to that. Not only that, but the woman made a clone to hold me in place. Also… they don't seem frustrated in the slightest that we're proving to be difficult for them to defeat even though they obvious outnumber us and are probably greater in rank than us. Could it be that someone sent them to fight us or possibly kill us? Did someone see me or Ayumu in Iwagakure bearing the tattoo of the Baaten clan?_ I took a sharp intake of breath as my arm began to sting and the thought that we were caught despite being careful not to be found out.

The woman, regretfully, gathered lightning into her finger as the guy blew fire at me again. As soon as the fire was flying, the woman struck her finger out at the ground which made a clear path toward my feet. I didn't realize it until I tried to move, but the lighting she put in the ground paralyzed my leg's movement for a time. While I encouraged my feet to move again, the searing heat from the fire came at me like a bull - unrelentingly. Luckily, I still had control of my torso in the slim moment that I couldn't move my feet; so I threw my back backwards so that I fell flat on my back and the fire glided over my chest. It was so close to my face that the heat burned it like I had just stuck it in an oven that was just used. I moved my face to get it out of the way, but my cheek that was facing the fire got the worst of it. I let out a shriek of pain as my cheek seemed to be almost on fire as it passed by.

Still, I couldn't linger worrying about the pain so I quickly stood up as soon as I was given the power to move my feet again and quickly made hand seals. The woman was quicker than I was and made hand seals that I recognized faintly. It was the same lightning technique she just used. So even while I was making hand seals, I jumped into the air to dodge the lightning she was going to lodge into the ground. She just smirked as the guy appeared behind me once again, but this time my hand seals were ready for him and I turned to kick him to get him off balance while shouting:

"Earth Release: Devouring Earth!"

As soon as I sealed the jutsu with those words, the earth rumbled underneath the man and then one pike of earth shot out at him. He got punctured by the first one pretty badly in the torso, but the second one caused him to become disoriented even as he dodged it. The earth slid down from its spot in the air to drag him down with it to be buried in the earth. He wasn't prepared to let that happen seeing as he tore, bit, even swore at the earth. The woman helped him out by shooting the lightning she was saving for me when I came down to cut the earth to allow his release. When he did fall to the ground, he was badly wounded.

Clutching onto his side, he coughed blood but even still said, "…I can see why… they're so interested in you…," I didn't have time to question what he meant when the woman threw kunai at me. I easily dodged them, but didn't notice until the last moment that there was an explosive seal mixed in with red ribbons that were used to distract me. The explosion blew my eardrum up even as I blocked most of the explosions with my arms that had flimsy arm bands around them. I flew back into a tree feeling weak and about ready to puke with the ringing in my ears. I thought I heard Ayumu call my name out with worry, but I was a bit too out of it to understand what was going on around me.

The woman came up to me with lightning collected at her fingertips. She said something to me, but with my busted eardrum, I couldn't hear anything. Just as she was about to shoot the lightning at me, she was pushed out of the way by Ayumu. I was surprised that he found the time to help me out seeing as he was fighting that other guy, but he was a real life saver no matter what. The woman, furious that Ayumu interrupted, shot her fingers out at him. My eyes widened as I shouted out Ayumu's name for him to watch out, but it was too late.

The lightning went through Ayumu's shoulder and out the other side.

Falling slowly, his eyes began to flutter shut, releasing the kunai in his hand. I screamed his name multiple times, but he either didn't hear me or was just too weak to look over. Even though I was hurt as well, that didn't stop me from charging up to catch him just before he landed in the grass. It was all my fault; if I only I was a bit more experienced in fighting, it wouldn't have come to this. No… if only I didn't have the stupid Nine Tailed Beast's chakra inside of me - nothing would have made it come to this! Tears were welling up in my eyes as I caught his head in my hands. Blood was rolling out of the side of his mouth, but I could tell by the pain induced twitch on his eyelid that he was still alive - if barely.

"Ayumu! Ayumu! Please, answer me! Please!" I yelled in his ear, my tears falling down on his face. I didn't know my voice could sound so desperate, so… different. It didn't sound like my voice at all - but a woman who just lost everything.

There was no answer from him, but there was something inside telling me he was still alive. Even with that thought in my head, I felt the wind become increasingly stronger, raising my black hair from my shoulders. A deep growling that sounded more like it came from a hungry wolf rather than a sixteen year old girl rumbled deep inside my throat. I released Ayumu's head and laid him down on the grass as my body twitched and struggled. I was forced to fall to all fours, slinking slowly into the position a panther would be in. I didn't know what was wrong but there was only one thing that was going on through my head at the time:

Kill the ones who hurt my brother.

I lashed out at the woman, who was merely the closest. She shrieked out in horror as I made deep gashes into her arm. They looked like claw marks and they were devastatingly big for human nails alone. She tried to throw kunais with explosive seals on them again, but I just threw them off course with my powerful arm. The man with the sword tried to stop me from pursuing his ally any further and slashed my arm when I was still focused on the woman. It caused my hot blood to gush out, but I didn't really feel it that much. I took his sword from his hands and threw it away from me, lashing out at him now. He tried to block my attacks, but his arms were too weak for my now super human-like arms. Soon his guard was taken off and I punched him square in the face which made him fly into a tree - breaking through the first one he hit and making a great dent in the one behind the first. Blood soaked the dented tree as the man's limp body refused to move and slunk down at the tree's roots.

Fire was assaulting me from behind and when I turned to face the man who was attacking me, I dashed toward him with speed that I wasn't even aware of. His eyes widened as well at my sudden speed as I was face-to-face with him in the blink of an eye. Snarling at him, I slashed my hand at his throat, ripping it open with my nails. He cried out in bloody pain, causing the woman to also cry out but in terror.

I faced her soon after the lifeless body fell ungracefully to the ground. Once more, I raced over to her. She tried to fend me off with more lightning attacks, but I didn't even slow down. Soon, I had her by her legs, tearing my nails into her soft flesh and threw her with as much strength as I had in me into the air. As soon as she was vulnerable in the air, I made hand seals for Earth Release: Devouring Earth - though, I had absolutely no control of my voice so I couldn't even say the name of the move. It was like I was a whole different entity. Instead of just the original pikes that I was capable of, a wolf-like being was made out of the earth and came up and swallowed her up like she was merely a snack. It slunk into the ground slowly with the woman in its maw leaving her to a death of being buried alive.

As soon as the last of them were defeated, my head became very fuzzy. I held onto it, all at once my anger at them fading away. I staggered over toward Ayumu who was still unconscious in the grass where I left him. Weakly, I reached my hand out toward him when my eyelids became really heavy. I face-planted into the ground falling unconscious myself.


	6. VI - Play on Emotions

I was awoken to violent shaking and Ayumu's voice that kept repeating my name. I turned over on my side, groaning along with my entire body. My body ached everywhere. Even my feet felt like they were going to run away without me. It was like I went through a really tough fight or something. At that thought, my eyes shot opened and I sat up quickly, accidentally slapping Ayumu in the mouth. I looked around in all directions for the bandits we were fighting. The sky told me it was dawn, but when we were fighting those guys it was a least five in the afternoon. I turned to Ayumu, my eyes wide.

"Wh-where did they go, Ayumu?!" I asked quickly, getting to my feet despite my protesting aches and pains. I grabbed a kunai from my pouch and tried to focus in case anyone's chakra was close by. There was nothing… well, besides my own and Ayumu's.

"They're dead, Chiasa." He simply said.

"Dead? You finished them off?" I wondered amazed. It was three against one - how could he defeat them so easily? Then I noticed all the bandages that covered his body. There was a giant one around his shoulder that was when it struck me that he protected me from that lady's lightning attack and took the hit for me. I bit my lip, feeling really bad. Yet, I didn't really have a clue as to what happened after that. The only thing I could think of was the fact that I got really upset at so many things: The fact that he took the hit for me, the fact that it was all my fault that it happened to him, the fact that I was inexperienced… after that, nothing came to mind.

I sulked, kneeling down to place my hands on the bandages on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Ayumu. You didn't have to do that for me…," He poked me in the nose and chuckled at me even as I glared at him. I hated it when he did that.  
"You're right in that I didn't have to do it for you; but you're wrong because I wanted to." Ayumu explained. As I looked into his sincere eyes, I knew it to be true. Sniffling with blurry eyes, I latched onto him, crying into his shoulder, repeating the same words as if it were a mantra: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…," He didn't reply to any of my apologies, all he did was rub my back softly, waiting for my crying to settle gently.

When I eventually did stop crying (which he was probably really annoyed about since it seemed I was crying for a long time), Ayumu told me that he would be all right due to the Kekkai Genkai, but how that wasn't what we should be concerned about.

I tilted my head to the side, "Then what is it that we should be concerned about?" Ayumu moved his shoulder around a bit, probably because it was in pain again.

"The bodies - they're what concerns us." Ayumu told me, whispering. I didn't know why he was saying it in such a low voice. I didn't sense any chakra in the vicinity, but he was probably just being careful. I leaned in closer so I could hear him clearer, "When I woke up, I saw you nearly in critical condition with burns all over your back and a big gash in your arm. Then I looked around and saw that there were only two bodies of our attackers left. What scared me the most was that they had claw marks on their bodies." Faintly, the memory of them being attacked like that came into my head. I looked down at my hands and saw them soaked with dry blood. I gasped and Ayumu quickly placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I know. Something tells me that the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra took you over and you went all out on them attacking them with your nails." Ayumu told me gently. I shook my head slowly with my heart beating faster than I thought was healthy.

"No… I killed them… without hesitation…," I whispered softly. I wrapped my arms around myself feeling a slight chill in the air. I couldn't believe I lost my mind like that and brutally murdered those people. That definitely wasn't me. That couldn't be me.

"When I fell unconscious, that was probably your breaking point and the emotions going through yourself probably called upon the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra, making you into that wild killing machine." I looked at him with wide eyes.

"Y-you don't… you don't believe that it was me… it was me who killed them… do you? You don't… think I'm that Beast… do you?" I asked quietly, feeling like I was going to puke. I was visibly shaking from the shock that it was still my body going around and killing them.

"No, of course I don't, Chiasa. You're my sister. I won't ever think of you that way." Ayumu said to me, pulling me into a hug. I tried to stop more tears from falling from my eyes, but it was clearly impossible seeing as I was hiccuping and shaking so much. This time, I didn't hold anything back - I just screamed in horror of my actions. I could have killed Ayumu when I lost my mind like I did. I really could've. If I had no idea about what I had done until now, then it was imminent that I was probably going to go for him next if I hadn't been weakened by the outlaws. The thought that I was so close to ending my own brother's life scared me to no end. I didn't want it to happen again - never, ever again.

"Ayumu… I-I… you… the Beast…," I tried to murmur between hiccups.

He shushed me, "It's all right. I'm OK, aren't I? I'm right here, aren't I? We're both OK and that's all that we need right now." Wiping my eyes, I looked up at Ayumu and saw that he was smiling reassuringly at me. I was so grateful to have him around it wasn't even funny. The fact that I couldn't remember much from when I was taken over by the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra scared me and if I was alone dealing with this, I don't think I would've lasted long. For it was Ayumu's presence that made me feel like I could keep going on.

"So…," I said softly and slowly, not completely recovered from that experience, but was trying to move on - even if it was difficult, "You were right in that the emotions triggered the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra, huh?"

"If it was because you freaked out when I was injured that it was activated, then yes." Ayumu replied shrugging. I wasn't surprised at all if he didn't really know much about this. After all, how was he supposed to know why the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra activated at that moment yesterday? I thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe it wasn't even the emotions. You said that you found me in critical condition, right?" - Ayumu nodded - "Then if that's the case, then maybe it came to my aid because it knew I was going to die without its help."

Ayumu sighed and leaned back on his hands, "That is a possibility. Perhaps it was both of those factors. I really don't know."

"I wonder what I looked like to them." I mused quietly to myself, going over to my water bottle since I was finished crying on Ayumu's shoulder and ran the water over my bloodied hands, erasing the evidence of the outlaws' deaths, "Did I look like a monster? A crazy, bloodthirsty wild thing that killed with no hesitation?" I stared at my reflection and pondered deeply as to what or who I was. I couldn't have been that beast. I was still the Chiasa everyone knew - or that was what I felt like. What was brewing underneath my human mask?

Shaking the water off of my hands, I wiped them off furiously with a cloth. I didn't want to think those things anymore. It was a one deal thing… well, I suppose I shouldn't lie to myself; I was going to have to use that thing again - in the near future, too. The very reason I was here was because the Baaten clan wanted to get their revenge on Iwagakure and I was their little secret weapon to win against the Tsuchikage and all the Iwagakure ninjas. Though I really didn't want to use that monster inside of me ever again, I had to face reality to try and tame the thing. A shiver ran down my spine.

"Hmm… the sun tells me it's lunch time." Ayumu murmured behind me with a little grin on his face. I turned to him, a scowl on my face. That statement and smirk meant…, "Hey, Chi-Dei, could you run over to the stream and get us some more of those fish? I'm just dying to have those again." I rolled my eyes and groaned as loudly as I could. How did I know he was going to ask me that question?

"I'm telling you; there's no fish in that stream!" I told him.

"Go on. My stomach calls." He ignored me; like always. Getting to my feet, I stomped toward the forest where the stream was; even though it was completely obvious that there was going to be no fish there. Why didn't Ayumu believe me? I mean, he always went to the same stream I did and he got fish but still… Wait, did that mean he cheated? That he actually didn't go to the stream he showed me? I turned to look at him to see if he had that dumb knowing smile, but I couldn't read much on his face as he built another fire. Raising an eyebrow, I turned back to face the forest and kept walking. Maybe I should just find another stream. It'd be easy to find, right? All I had to do was wander around for a while.

First, I went to the usual stream to see that there was no stupid fish there as usual. Though, this time, I went in the opposite direction of that stream and kept looking around for a stream with my ears alone.

So as to not be ambushed by enemy ninjas like last time, I kept my ears also out on alert for any noises and my senses free to check for any signs of chakra. The forest was pretty quiet for the most part - no ninjas jumping through these trees. Only small animals were wandering around on this clear day. Though, thanks to being on high alert, the mere rustle of the bush made me quake with fear and shoot a kunai in the direction of the noise. Three quarters of the time it was nothing, but sometimes I would accidentally hit an animal. If that happened I would just take my kunai out of it and hope for the best. I really wished I could've healed them if I had access to my Kekkai Genkai - though, that wasn't the case. I pressed on.

My hair rose on the back of my neck when I felt something keeping a close watch on me. Whipping around in all directions, I tried to find out whatever it was that was looking at me. I stilled my breath and focused as hard as I could for any sounds or signs of chakra. Nothing. Silence and no chakra besides my own. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but just to be on the safe side, I kept a kunai ever present in my palm. Clutching onto it made me feel a tad bit safer in these woods. It was funny - I was never this afraid of going into the wilderness until now. Maybe after that event with the outlaws made me worry about becoming that monster again. With this crazy feeling that something was watching me it made that worry even worse.

That nagging feeling that I should run into hiding from the eyes or whatever it was that was on me was increasingly getting worse with every step. Maybe the voice inside my head was right. I didn't know. What if it was just another innocent animal that just so happened to be looking in my direction? I didn't want to risk hurting another animal. Besides, if I was right that it was an animal, then it should shift its attention away from me soon. If it didn't, I'd listen to that voice inside of me and hide in the bushes or something.

Before I could decide if was an animal or not, I heard the tell tale noises of a nearby stream. Perking my ears, I ran toward the sound with haste. Hopefully there were fish in this one rather than nothing.

When I arrived at the stream, I soon got that hair-raising feeling again. If it had followed me this far, then there was definitely something wrong. Or maybe it was Ayumu testing me again to see if I could detect someone from a distance. That was most likely the answer. So, I made my way casually to the stream with that thought and peered into the stream and saw that there was a few fish swimming in there!

"See, Ayumu?" I called to him, "There's actually fish in this stream! And if you deny it, I'm going to smack you in the face!" No reply. I turned around slowly, my hands on my hips and a smirked play on my face. That jerk must think that I didn't know he was there. Seriously, he trained me to sense chakra and if I wasn't good at it by now then there must be something wrong with me. After all, sensing chakra was one of the simplest thing ever to do, "Come on out, I know you're there!"

Once again, there was no answer. Frustrated, I turned my back on Ayumu and stabbed at the fish with kunai, having difficulty getting the squirmy things. Finally, I ended up getting a few. I knew Ayumu ate like a pig like I said earlier and would appreciate more fish handy whenever his fast metabolism called for more food. Though, how were we going to live off fish alone? Maybe we could go someplace to grab some actual food rather than just eat fish without a fishing license in the middle of a forest who knows where.

Still, Ayumu's eyes were beginning to bore into my back which infuriated me. I knew he was there! I called out to the big goof and yet he still refuses to show himself! I resisted the urge to throw a kunai in his direction and just made my way back to the clearing where he would probably beat me to just to make it seem he wasn't following me. Man, sometimes he could be such a kid. Won't call the joke old even if I figured it out.

"I hope you're hungry Meister. I got lots of fish for you." I called to which no answer came. As I thought. What a loser.

Anyway, I made my way back the way I came and all was going great… until I got lost. Hey! It wasn't my fault! All the trees looked exactly the same to me! I tried going onto a tree branch to see if I recognized anything up there but the only thing that I remembered were the footprints that I just made before jumping into the tree. Climbing back down again, I made some hand seals to perform a jutsu that allowed me to find out where the ground had been treaded last. Still the same result. Sighing, I just kept walking with my cluster of fish.

"I give up Ayumu. Tell me where the clearing is, please." I shouted out to him. Birds chirped instead of Ayumu's taunting tone that I had been expecting. Though, he obviously heard my request because he jumped through the trees quickly but it was clear enough that he was showing me the way. Seriously, a helpful guide would have been a little bit more preferable, but this was good too, I guess.

I followed Ayumu closely, not sensing his chakra for some reason, but I guess he was trying to be mysterious or something lame like that. He was really fast, too. I really didn't notice before, but he was like a racehorse in the trees. Quickly, I almost lost sight of him a few times. I called out for him to wait up a few times to which he actually did, but only barely enough for me to regain my sense of where he was. If only Ayumu would give up this gig then it would be so much easier. I suppose he was sort of like my sensei at the moment, but still enough was enough. Still, I didn't complain to him because most of the time once he got something on his mind, it took a lot to get it out of him again.

Soon, I made to the clearing, feeling tired from running so fast to catch up to him. When I entered, I saw him sitting in front of the fire, a blanket wrapped tightly around himself. He raised an eyebrow with a smirk at my collection of fish.

"It's about time you figured it out." He said.

As I sat down next to him, passing the fish, I gave him a confused look, "Figured what out?" At this, he slapped his forehead with his palm with frustration. That agitated me, but I didn't interrupt him before he replied.

"Didn't you notice that I was testing you when I first told you about the fish in the stream I showed you?" Ayumu asked, putting some the fish I collected into the fire. I thought about it for a moment, but shook my head. How was that a form of training? He groaned, "It was to test you about listening to orders. Not all orders are given correctly or in an exact way that benefits you; so you've got to be prepared to fit the situation into your liking or in a way that makes it easier for you to complete. Make sense now?"

Now that I thought about it, it kind of did. Still, it was simply fish; how could that possibly compare to a real live mission? I pondered it for a moment. Maybe if Leader - in his old age and everything - made a mistake in one of the missions he gave to us. Say if he told us to assassinate someone in such a way that was physically impossible for us, we would have to change plans in order to kill them in a similar way that would satisfy the mission. Of course, nothing like that ever came to me yet, but it would prove useful possibly in the future.

Not wanting him to admit he was clever with his training, I snorted, "Well, you didn't have to keep tabs on me the entire time I was out getting the fish." As he passed me a fish, he gave me a look that seemed to tell me that I was insane.

"I wasn't watching you." he replied.

"Yeah, I know you don't want to admit it already Meister." I said as I clicked my tongue and took a bite into the fish he gave me. He studied me closely with wonder, but shrugged and took a bite into his own fish. Frustrated, I continued, "Seriously, how long are you going to keep the fa ade up that you weren't spying on me when I already know it was you?!"

He frowned deeply, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Chi-Dei."

"Sure you do; you lead me back to the clearing when I got lost in the woods." I told him, making sure he couldn't deny it any farther. Sometimes, he was more stubborn than I was; and that was fairly stubborn.

"You got lost? What stream did you go to?" Ayumu inquired, which made me pause and question myself. He seemed genuinely curious and if he had absolutely no clue as to what I was telling him, then that meant that he must've not been the person in the trees watching me. That caused my blood to run cold. I turned around quickly and searched diligently for anyone in the bushes; or any chakra that was around. Nothing. Not even a soft rustle in the bushes. Either it was just a passing ninja or someone who was actually spying on us and trying to remain incognito for as long as possible. Shivers ran down my spine. Now that I was actually focusing on the matter, I felt the eyes boring from who knew where into my skin again. I began to wonder how long this person had been watching me; considering I only felt the eyes when I was severely focused on my surroundings.

A tap on my shoulder from Ayumu caused me to jump like a madman, "Is something wrong?" I was about to shake my head when I once again searched for that feeling that someone was watching me and felt the eerie atmosphere that came with it. I stole some of Ayumu's warm blanket and slide underneath it to shake the shivery feeling.

"When I was searching for the fish, I had the strangest feeling that someone was watching me closely." I told him softly so that whoever was watching couldn't hear. At this, his head scanned the clearing much as I did, but it was probably fruitless seeing as he just met with my eyes again, "I thought it was you since they led me back here and didn't attack me, but I can still feel their eyes on me even as I speak." After I spoke, an unsettling silence awkwardly placed itself between us as if a fog would. Ayumu once again looked around for anyone, not saying anything and I just cuddled myself into the blanket more as I still felt the disgusting feeling of eyes on my back.  
Ayumu was solemn even when he said, "Hmm… no one seems to be around; are you sure you're not just being overly cautious?" I glared at him venomously.

"I'm sure!" I blasted at him. Ayumu lifted the fog of awkwardness by laughing. He set down the stick his fish was on and I followed suit. He got out of the blanket and grabbed for my blindfold. Passing it to me, I knew what it was that he was planning to do: More training. Rolling my eyes, I found that this was the worst time to be doing this, but also the best. If I was to get my mind off of hyper drive, training was one of the best ways to do so. Yet, if someone was tailing us, then it wasn't a good idea if we wasted chakra. Though, I trusted Ayumu with my life, so I put my blindfold on and tightly wrapped it around my eyes.

Although, I suppose the fact that I was being extra cautious was good because even with the blindfold on, I suddenly felt that as if I could see clearly. I bent down to grab my equipment when without warning, Ayumu's chakra came swirling at me. Was he using a jutsu? His chakra seemed different then when we were merely training with weapons. I felt the earth around me begin to move so I moved out of the way quickly; making sure I didn't get caught by whatever jutsu he was using. Though, I felt a stabbing pain radiate throughout my shoulder. I clutched onto whatever was penetrating my skin and ripped it out. The surface was smooth, with a bit of jagged bits at the end. I soon recognized this as small stalagmites. Throwing the rock formation away, I faced Ayumu's chakra with fury.

"You could've at least told me you were using jutsus this time around!" I exploded. That swirling of his chakra came again so I prepared myself with an earth shield to defend myself from all sides since I wasn't that great at sensing where things were in the air yet. I heard loud clicks of rock against rock shudder throughout my encasement, telling me that the attack Ayumu used was really strong. Grinding my teeth, I tried to make a plan before I let the earth shield slip away just yet.

When I came up with a decent strategy, I let the earth go back to its original state as I jumped up and grabbed an array of shuriken stars and kunais - a few with explosive seals attached to them. I still couldn't really tell where I was throwing them, but I just sensed for Ayumu's chakra and threw it in that direction. When the kunais and shuriken stars flew, I made some hand seals to made the earth behind Ayumu's chakra rise up to prevent his escape from the explosives once they touch the wall.

Before I could completely make the earth rise up all the way, Ayumu made a few Earth Clay clones and disrupted my confidence in the jutsu I was using. Just as my weapons connected with the wall, they all dispersed and went into different directions. Since all their chakra was the same, I couldn't tell which one was the real one - even if I could see them. The explosives went off and the wall came crumbling down so I decided to use the small boulders and threw them one at a time to the Earth Clay clones. The Earth Clay clones were really difficult to catch, seeing as they ran amongst the trees as well so the boulders couldn't catch them. I only managed to get one, but of course it wasn't the real one.

Just as I defeated that one, another Ayumu ran up behind me. I didn't have a boulder ready right away for him, so I threw some kunais at him, hoping that at least one of them would get him. Even the slightest touch would make the Earth Clay clone go into their original state. Sadly, not one got him. I reached into my upholster for more kunais so as to not waste too much chakra but I realized I only had so few left. Darn. I had to end this soon.

The Ayumu that I was facing made quick hand signs and slapped the ground to summon something that I couldn't identify but had a good idea of what it was - it one of his speciality attacks - Earth Release: Wolf Hunt. It was a move where the user makes dogs out of the earth; used mostly for tracking, but was also used for offence. The dogs didn't have their own chakra, but they made some noises that I could just barely pick up. Since I had to focus on both chakra and hearing, I couldn't really do anything besides defend myself. The dogs bit onto me, tackling me to the ground. The dogs shifted in shape - I could tell because they no longer moved and my arms were completely immobilized as they were pinned to the ground. I really didn't want to yield, but there was no other choice when who I assumed to be the real Ayumu put a foot on my stomach with triumph.

"OK, OK!" I spat with distaste, "You won! Now release me already!" Ayumu laughed but did as I asked and let the earth pinning me to the ground slide off of me and set me free once again. I sat up, taking off the blindfold with a frown. I lost; again. It didn't seem like I was getting any better. Even with that intense fight with the outlaws yesterday didn't make me in the least bit formidable against Ayumu.

He offered me his hand to help me up which I accepted, "You're getting better throwing in the right direction. You just need to focus more on using both your sense of hearing at the same time as well." When I walked over to retrieve my kunais and shuriken stars, I felt those eyes again on me. It was only when I wasn't focusing solely on something did I notice them. As I was sparring with Ayumu, I didn't even feel a single thing. Now, it consumed me like it was a second skin. I shivered again - wondering what it was watching us in from inside the forest. Even still, I continued back toward Ayumu.

"They're still watching." Ayumu whispered to me silently. I nodded to inform him that I felt it too. He glared at the forest probably in hopes to get whoever it was to stop watching us like a bug in a jar. Sadly, the feeling didn't go away.

"We shouldn't engage in any sort of fight with them." I suggested, "After all, they're not doing anything, yet. Besides, we're slightly off on chakra and it wouldn't be wise at all to make the first move." Ayumu sighed, but nodded in agreement. The person in the forest was probably bothering him as much as it did for me. Still, there was truth in what I said and it was probably the best course of action.

"Well," Ayumu said, turning to me with a grin on his face, "Should we spar some more?" With a confident smile, I placed my blindfold on again and with that we continued my training. During the whole time, the person made no move whatsoever, but it wasn't like I was paying much attention as I was training. Still, the fact that they were there was still lingering in my mind and refused to leave it.

We trained until we both ran out of chakra and breath. The sun was beginning to set and night was drawing quickly. We both decided to call it a day as Ayumu pulled out two bowls of instant ramen. The treat really had me surprised and immediately I gobbled up the bowl until there was nothing left. Even with this reward, it didn't ease anything up in contrast with the person who was watching ever so diligently in the woods…


	7. VII - The Trade

Man, did I sleep good or what? Climbing out of my sleeping bag, I let out a satisfied yawn and stretch like I was at home sleeping in my own bed and not in a clearing in the middle of the forest. I was really happy; and why shouldn't I be? Training began to show some positive results by the end of yesterday. I was able to throw a kunai in a straight line with the blindfold over my eyes and I actually dropped Ayumu's chakra down pretty low - which was a sign that I was making him use more jutsus, thus more time and energy to best me. That was why he treated me to the instant ramen - to congratulate that. Not only was the training going good, but I somewhat forgot the eyes on my back and slept like a baby the entire night. No nightmares plagued my sleep and I felt like I was ready to take on anything.

Well, anything _besides_ what ended up happening to me.

Anyway, I grabbed my water bottle and took a long drink of that until my throat was satisfied. I turned to where I thought Ayumu was still fast asleep, but ended up seeing nothing inside his sleeping bag. The fire was also out, which meant he must have woken up before me. That was unusual; Ayumu never woke up before me. It was almost a known fact of life. I ended up shrugging it off; he probably just couldn't get to sleep last night and decided to go for a walk or something.

As I set the water bottle back down again, I tried to search for the eyes again, but today I didn't feel anything. Hmm… they probably got tired of standing around; nothing that was any of my business. Though, I was secretly glad that we didn't fight with the mysterious person or else there would have been unnecessary blood especially since the person was just staying for a short amount of time. Still, I couldn't help but wonder who it was that was watching us so intently yesterday…

Well, anyway, since Ayumu wasn't around, I took the time to take a bath. The reason Ayumu and I chose this spot out of many was because there was a stream close by with fish in it and there was a lake connected to that stream just further ahead. The lake was pretty and fairly clear which told us that it was safe to enter. Algae coated one part of the lake which I found rather icky but I could hardly complain. Weeds and cattails stuck up from the bottom, but that was one of the only downsides. All in all, the lake was the best place I knew of to take a bath. Though… I would rather have a shower or a bath in civilization, but I guessed it was for the safety of others that I trained in an area unpopulated; considering I had the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra waiting to be awakened inside of me.

Before slipping off my clothes and stepping into the freezing cold water, I looked around in case anyone was watching - especially that person from yesterday. I didn't want any peeping toms hanging around when I was bathing. Just to play it safe, I only stripped down to my undergarments and made contact with the water on my bare skin. The initial shiver lasted only a moment as I steadily adjusted to the temperature.

Soon, my bath was over but there was still no sign of Ayumu or the person in the vicinity. The fact that Ayumu wasn't around worried me a little bit, but he could take care of himself and should be fine. Still, we were attacked by those outlaws before and it wasn't a good idea to be separated for long. I didn't want to find him hurt or even worse dead when I saw him next. That would be too much - even just thinking about it caused my heart to swell. I could only hope that he was OK for the time being.

Even though I had an exceedingly long bath, when I came back, Ayumu was still nowhere to be found. I looked around worriedly, but couldn't find any trace of him. That is, until I found a note stuffed in his sleeping bag. I probably didn't notice it before since I was still half-asleep. Thanks to the cold water waking me up in an instant, I now noticed it clearly; making me feel a bit silly for missing it before. I picked it up with a shaking hand. Hopefully it wasn't the last thing I was going to have of his.

_Come on, Chiasa. Think positively_! My conscience told me cheerfully.

Yeah, easy for you to say.

Anyway, I opened the note up, noticing that it was folded up around three times. That told me immediately that he had time to write this and wrap it up - meaning that he wasn't being chased or something while he was writing it. Anyway, when I flipped it opened all the way, I saw Ayumu's unique writing. That also told me that it actually was him who wrote the note. Mentally, I laughed at myself for being so cautious, but with that person watching us the other day, I couldn't help it. What if it was their doing - writing the note?

I shook my head and focused on reading the note; trying not to let anymore thoughts of the note belonging to the person invade my mind. The note was short, but to the point:

**_Chiasa, I'm going to keep a close eye on this person in the woods. Don't make it look obvious that I'm tailing them, alright? They seem to be focused more on you… you probably know why._**

Silently, I tucked the note in my pocket rather than down on the ground. If the person was being extra careful today, then they would want to get a look at the note as well. Carelessness was not an option; if Ayumu was tailing this person, then he must think of them enough as a threat to do so. I had to follow along and try to keep all knowing of this hidden in case the person was still watching me without me knowing this time around.

To make it seem like I was passing the time or waiting for Ayumu to come back, I practiced tossing shruiken stars and kunais at trees with my blindfold on - trying to perfect my throwing skills. I didn't want to use jutsus in fear that I would run out of chakra and become vulnerable in such a state. After awhile, I went on to practicing my taijutsu; just anything as long as I wasn't using chakra. Did the fact that I wasn't using any jutsus make it too obvious? Paranoia took my mind once more, but I tried to not let it bother me. Who knows what the person would have thought, watching me train? I could be saving my chakra for sparring with Ayumu when he came back. I could also be trying to just focus on taijutsu since I rarely used that kind of fighting style compared to the other types. I could be angry and taking it out on a tree for all they knew. I just wished I knew what they were thinking if they were still around.

After a long time of keeping up my facade, rustling could be heard in the bushes near me. Startled, I grabbed for a kunai and called Ayumu's name for a response. Instead, though, Ayumu was thrown into the clearing, wounds marring his body. He was also tightly tied up. The rope was binding his arms behind his back. I gasped and ran up to him, but he weakly called out to me before I could make it to his side.

"No! It's… it's a trap! Run!" He yelled at me. I backtracked, but before I could go anywhere, a silhouette appeared from behind Ayumu. My blood ran cold in my veins as I stared at the person, paralyzed with fear. I didn't even see this person's face and already I was getting cold feet. Obviously, though, if they did that much damage to Ayumu, there was no way I could take on this person. Not without the Nine Tailed Beast's help… but I didn't want to resort to that until I tamed the thing!

Finally, the person's features were revealed to me. The first thing I noticed was the jet black cloak with the red clouds scattered on it like blood. Akatsuki… Then when I looked at the person's face, I was disappointed when I noticed that they were wearing a rice hat with streams of paper rolling down from the rim of the hat which totally covered their face. Soon, a person in the same attire strolled in like they owned the place. They were also wearing the hat, to hide their face as well. From what I could tell, they were both men.

"Are you… are you the ones who were spying on us the other day?" I asked warily, hoping I wasn't speaking out of turn to upset them. My heart was beating faster than a cheetah's paws beating against the ground. Ayumu was injured and I was facing two people from the Akatsuki. There was no way I could ever plan on escaping this alive unless I listened to why they were in this very clearing.

One of them lifted their hat to reveal a swirly-looking orange mask as he said, "She's a sharp biscuit as well! I thought we were hiding pretty well. I guess you're beginning to slip already, Senpai!" I took that answer as a yes - looking at the two of them intently. My hands were shaking like I was deficient, but I tried to stay calm enough to evaluate the situation. Considering they left Ayumu alive, they must need something of ours in exchange or something. Or more likely, they were interested in the Nine Tailed Beast inside of me.

"If she noticed anyone of us, it would have been you, Tobi." The other replied. I could tell that he wanted to murder his partner just by his clenched fists and the fact that his voice seemed really tense, "And it's 'sharp cookie', not 'sharp biscuit'." While they were sort of bickering amongst themselves, I turned to face Ayumu who was struggling against his binds. The wounds covering his body weren't deep in a lot of areas, but it would be significantly weakening his strength to get out of the rope. If that was the case, then my earlier judgement must have been correct; they wanted to make a deal with us.

"What are you doing here? Surely the Akatsuki have much better things to be doing rather than spying on us of all people." I asked next. I had the right to ask these questions since Ayumu's life was on the line. If I didn't hurry and give them what they wanted, Ayumu could be killed right before my very eyes. As I asked this as well, Ayumu gave me an apologetic glance that I ignored. This wasn't the time to be apologizing; it was the time to be trying to get out of this situation alive.

The one without the orange mask faced me again, "As you said, we've been watching you. Our leader had caught wind that the Baaten clan had a secret weapon with the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra, un. He thought that someone like that would make a great asset to the Akatsuki." I pondered over his words for a moment, until something else that he said caught my attention more than anything. 'Un'? Did he just say that?

_"Yes! He was exactly that type of person! Except maybe he'd go, 'Just back off next time, un!'"_ Kurotsuchi had said to me before when I was at Iwagakure. I stared incredulously at the person who had just spoken and felt my heart beat even faster and my fingertips become like ice. That was Deidara's catchphrase… he was also in the Akatsuki and there were two Akatsuki members in front of me… that meant… the person in front of me was…

"Dei-Dei…," I whispered softly so only my own ears could barely catch it. I brought my freezing fingers up to my lips with shock. If only I could see his face. If only he was the one who recognized me. Though, it had been such a long time ago, he probably forgot who I was. Not only that but years have passed since we last saw each other and I probably looked a lot different than how I used to. Even if that was the case, I still recognized him but something inside of me just couldn't call out to him; just couldn't tell him who I was.

"Are you even listening?" Dei-Dei asked, sounding annoyed. Startled, I broke out of my daydream and put my hands back to my sides. Right. I had to focus on the present situation at the moment and get us out of harm's way.

"Y-yeah, I am…," I replied, taking a deep breath and readjusting my mind to begin thinking of how to respond to what he had told me. The Akatsuki were interested in me in the fact that I had the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra. Though, why they would need someone who was only at chuunin rank I had no idea. Usually, you had to have a bit of skill to back up your power. At present time, my skills weren't polished enough. Instead of just thinking of why they would want an inexperienced ninja, I decided to ask them, "Why would your leader want to have me in your group? I mean, I haven't even tamed the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra yet and my Kekkai Genkai has been sealed up - making even my healing useless to you."

"Leader-sama recognized how much potential you had!" The orange masked guy - Tobi, I think he was called - said enthusiastically for some reason, "He even knew that you were going to ask that question - ooh how mysterious!"

Dei-Dei punched Tobi in the head, "I thought I told you to let me do the talking." Tobi held his head as he sniffled animatedly to make it seem like he was crying. No one paid particular attention to him, "Anyway, in response to your question, he was even willing to train you when you joined in order to use the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra inside of you and unseal your Kekkai Genkai." At this, I pondered for a moment. The offer was tempting, I had to admit. What better teachers where there than a bunch of S-ranked ninjas? Still, that's forgetting to mention the 'criminal' part of it. There was no way that I could be taken under a bunch of criminal's wings; even if Dei-Dei - my best friend in the past - was a part of that.

I didn't forget the 'when you joined' part of his reply as I said, "There's no way I would join the Akatsuki. I am still bound to my clan." At this, Dei-Dei walked over to Ayumu and forced him to his feet which made me remember Ayumu was their hostage at the moment. I couldn't make any real rash decisions without it being fatal to Ayumu. I shut my mouth to let them know I was reconsidering. Ayumu did everything in his power to escape from his grasp, but being weakened like that, he barely even put up a fight.

"Your mission is to unseal your Kekkai Genkai and tame the Nine Tailed Beast, right? Did they happen to mention the means of how to achieve that, un?" He asked me, almost pressing at the fact that I should join them. I stopped in my tracks; he was right, in a way. Leader didn't go in specifics to what lengths I could take in order to fulfill the mission. I could go to the Akatsuki and train there to do it for all he cared, most likely. As long as it got done. Still, I didn't quite like the idea of going to a bunch of criminals - it was like cheating in a race or something. Not only that, but they may get me to do things I wouldn't otherwise do.

"Don't listen to them, Chiasa! Get out of here!" Ayumu called to me despite his situation. I bit my lip roughly, nearly chewing on it. I was torn. They had Ayumu held captive and were giving me an offer I really couldn't refuse. I also couldn't just abandon him right now, even if he was the one who told me to make a run for it. So, I listed all the pros and cons I could at the moment before making a definite decision.

The pros were that I could become much stronger and fulfill the mission to the upmost for my clan. Not only that, but my Kekkai Genkai could be unsealed for my purposes and allow me to finally become a real member of the Baaten clan. If I joined the Akatsuki, I would be able to get more memories back since Dei-Dei was also there. If I could just convince him that I was the Chiasa that he was friends with way back when, then it would be simple. Also… I really didn't have a side that I was truly on when it came to Iwagakure and the Baaten clan. I just wanted peace and joining the Akatsuki would take me away from that decision. As terrible as it sounded, it was true. The Akatsuki had no real part in the whole situation. Lastly, my potential would be discovered and I would be so incredibly strong even I wouldn't know what I was capable of.

The cons were that I would deeply disappoint family and my clan by joining a group of criminals. Not to mention that I would soon get an unwanted name for myself and have several ninjas sent to assassinate anyone belonging to the Akatsuki breathing down my neck. The fact that I still belonged to my clan made it harder to leave it. Although… after all they had done to me in contrast with forcing the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra inside of me… I really didn't have a certain respect for them either. Also, would joining the Akatsuki disrupt my mission that I was still fulfilling for my clan? Would they let me finish my last mission before making me a permanent member?

I groaned inwardly at myself. I was making pros with my cons as I went. I kept going around in circles until I found that joining the Akatsuki to be the best course of action. Turning to Ayumu, I gave him a weary smile; there was only one thing I could do in a situation like this. I had said before that to get out of this I had to give them what they wanted. He furrowed his eyebrows at my facial expression, but then his eyebrows shot up again, probably realizing what it was that I had decided.

"OK… I'll—," I began.

"No! Don't do it, Chiasa! They're fooling you! They're only backing you up in a corner! Run—!" Before Ayumu could say anymore, Dei-Dei threw him into a tree to silence him. I gasped as Ayumu collapsed on the ground, unable to help himself due to the rope binding him. He let out a pained groan, but nothing more. The only thing I could do was hope he was all right. I gave them a dirty glare for doing that to Ayumu.

"You were saying?" Dei-Dei asked me casually. I took a deep breath. If I just got it over with and let them have what they wanted, Ayumu wouldn't be hurt anymore. I was only a burden to him. To make his suffering lessened, I nodded my head, trying to not let the threatening tears fall. Sorry, Ayumu… you've done a lot for me and yet, this is how I repay you…

"Yes… I'll join you; I'll join the Akatsuki." I replied stiffly. I couldn't believe my own ears. How could I agree to something like this? I thought I was a lot more stubborn than this. Turning to Ayumu who was struggling to get up again, I felt my heart shatter. When it came to helping Ayumu, I guessed I was just about ready to do anything. I was somewhat taken over by the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra in order to save him from the outlaws. Now, I was joining the Akatsuki to release him from their clutches.

I couldn't see it, but I knew there was a smirk on Dei-Dei's face, "Great, un. Get your stuff ready and we'll leave immediately." My heart constricted, how could Dei-Dei go from being a care-free kid to such a criminal? What happened to him when I left Iwagakure?

Even still, I turned around to gather my stuff as he said. I picked up my kitbag that was a little less weighty than when I first packed it. I noticed other things that belonged to me lying around on the ground. The first thing was Momma's lily hairpin. I held it in my hand for a little while, clutching onto it as if it was going to disappear if I didn't. _I'm so sorry Momma_… I clipped the hairpin in my hair, brushing some of the hair out of my eyes. With it now in my hair, I felt as if Momma was with me. That maybe I could get through this somehow, someway, someday. Then I grabbed for my shuriken stars and kunai that I used before. After all that, I faced Ayumu who looked deeply hurt.  
I couldn't bring myself to actually say goodbye to him, as it was too difficult to bring those words to my throat; so what I did say was, "In exchange for me coming along without complaint… could you not hurt Ayumu?"

Tobi looked like he was about to say something, but Dei-Dei interrupted him, "We weren't planning to; he was only used to get you over to Akatsuki." Although I was seething with anger out through my eyes in the fact that he was used like that, I nodded slowly. At least Ayumu wasn't going to be 'disposed of' after fulfilling his use.

Before leaving with the Akatsuki, I cut Ayumu's bonds and immediately he grabbed my wrist to drag me away from them, but I just put a hand on his. His blood was boiling, I could tell. I had never seen him so infuriated in my life - with his clenched teeth and strong grip on my wrist making it clear to me. Dei-Dei and Tobi - well, mostly Dei-Dei since Tobi was dancing around singing a nursery rhyme - were watching us closely, probably evaluating whether or not we were going to try to escape but made no move to stop us, yet. Ayumu noticed this as well and released my wrist with frustration.

"Don't go, Chiasa…," Ayumu pleaded silently.

I wrapped my arms around him in a hug, the threatening tears falling down my eyes despite my attempts to hold them back, "I have to. It's for your safety." When I pulled away from the hug, I saw fresh tears in his eyes as well.

"But… the very reason I'm here is to protect you. How can I do that when you're willingly putting yourself in danger?" Ayumu asked, his voice quaking.

"There's no other way." I replied.

"There _has_ to be. Chiasa… these are _criminals_. They won't give you a spa treatment."

"You don't think I don't know that?! Come on, give me a little credit here!" With that, I stood up and didn't face nor talk to Ayumu for a little while. Then, I took in a quick breath to murmur, "Please… don't make this decision any harder than it has to be…," As soon as I said it, I ran over toward Dei-Dei and Tobi who were waiting patiently for me to be finished saying my long goodbye. Even though I was given time, I couldn't find it in me to say those two words to him without feeling the need to throw up.

I didn't notice it probably due to the fact I was so focused on parting with Ayumu, but they had a white bird large enough for us to board. They were already on it when I got to them. Tobi was the one who offered his hand to help onto it to which I took reluctantly. As soon as I stepped onto it, the bird immediately began to flap its wings to bring us into the air. I wasn't used to the sudden jerking so I clutched onto the back of Tobi's cloak so I didn't slip off.  
Looking back down at the ground that was beginning to get further and further away, I saw Ayumu down there, looking up at us - not saying a word of protest. I knew he would have said a lot of things if I wasn't the one who decided to join. Still, I could hear the amount of unspoken words inside of my head. They echoed which made it all the more harder to leave him. Shutting my eyes closed, I turned away from him - still not able to find the words 'goodbye' that were lingering on my tongue.

"I think she's warming up to me a bit, Senpai!" Tobi exclaimed as I turned my attention away from Ayumu back down in the clearing. I didn't say anything in reply to what Tobi said; not in the mood to really do anything at the moment. Though, to be honest, I wanted to so badly shut him up. He didn't understand the real reason why I was latched so desperately onto him - which was just to avoid falling off the bird. Dei-Dei didn't reply either which made Tobi scratch his head, "Everyone is so tense. How about a game of Tic-Tac-Tobi?!"

"Shut up, Tobi! Nobody's going to be playing your stupid games!" Dei-Dei shouted out my unspoken words. Silently, I appreciated the gesture, even if it was for his own benefit. I didn't really feel like talking or doing any sort of activity. At this, Tobi flinched at Dei-Dei's harsh tone but recovered quickly and wiped some nonexistent sweat off his forehead.

"Wow… Senpai's real angry all of a sudden…," Tobi speculated the obvious. Once again, no one replied to Tobi, but he seemed to be used to it, seeing as he kept talking about random things no one really cared about as if we were giving him our full attention.

Still clutching onto Tobi, I peeked out passed his shoulder to look at Dei-Dei. His back was facing me, but I could now clearly see his long blonde hair that was flowing in the breeze. _His hair was blonde… with crystal blue eyes. He was a really short guy - even I was taller than him. Everyone used to make fun of him for his size…_ Kurotsuchi's description of Dei-Dei rang inside my head. He certainly fit all those aspects - looking at his blonde hair poking out from under his hat. I couldn't see his eyes quite yet, but he was pretty short. Tobi - when they both entered the clearing - was obviously taller than him and Tobi was the one who acted like a five year old.

Dei-Dei must have felt me staring at him seeing as he turned around and asked, "What are you looking at?" Feeling embarrassed for accidentally gazing at his back for so long, I avoided eye contact by hiding my face behind Tobi's shoulder.

"N-nothing…," I murmured back, loud enough for him to hear. I guessed he let the subject slide since he didn't press further as he took off his straw hat. As soon as I saw him, I nearly gasped and fell backwards - he looked almost exactly as the boy from the dream I had. The only differences being that his hair was much longer and he was a bit taller than what I remembered. Other than that, he was pretty much the same. Bangs covering one side of his face, the crystal blue eyes… the similarities shocked me.

"So… your name is Chiasa? Chiasa what?" he then asked, seeming to not notice the fact that I was practically gaping at him. Though, with those features, I wouldn't doubt he got that look a lot from women. He certainly was handsome, I had to admit.

I choked out my reply, "…Y-Yamaguchi…," No recognition shone in his eyes; either he didn't remember my name or he just hid it well. Though, I went with the first thought. Usually when you remembered someone or something, it was almost impossible to hide the shock that goes through you when your brain registers the nearly forgotten memory.

In response he just nodded, but turned around again to face the wind, "Welcome to the Akatsuki, Chiasa Yamaguchi."


	8. VIII - The Akatsuki (Part 1)

I was taken to this place that was partially hidden in the ground - probably so as to hide from whoever was on the hunt for the tell tale red and black cloaks that signified the Akatsuki. Dei-Dei landed the bird, allowing us to finally put our feet on solid ground. When I did, I was slightly unused to being on such firm ground after flying through the air on a bird the whole way here. I wasn't quite sure how long it took for us to get there, but it seemed that the sun didn't even move in the sky yet still I was fatigued. Did sorrow take energy from you? Whatever was the major deciding factor in my tiredness, I just wanted to go to sleep and hope that what was happening to me out to be merely a dream that I could laugh off in the future. Though, when I nearly fell from being unused to the solid ground the shock and fear of falling overtook me - telling me this was no dream. This was the real deal. I was entering the Akatsuki base with my old best friend Dei-Dei and his talkative partner Tobi.

You know, during the whole ride, I felt like mentioning to Dei-Dei that I once knew him way back in Iwagakure. That I once pulled pranks with him, that I held the necklace he gave me all those years ago this very moment, that I slightly remembered him; though, when I thought I built up the courage to speak to him, I would drop it the moment his name was on the tip of my tongue. I just couldn't bring myself to do it - for reasons I didn't even know why. Was I afraid that I was wrong in my judgement - that he wasn't really Dei-Dei? Was it because I assumed he didn't want to talk about Iwagakure? Or was it because I feared his rejection?

I think Tobi gave me an overview of the Akatsuki and what I should expect, but I was so focused on what the right words to say were to Dei-Dei; on how to strike up a conversation about the past. He talked a lot was all I knew - even stuff that didn't really concern anyone or anything. One time, I think he said something about a duck taking down a 500-pound wrestler. Well, he could have said that for all I knew. Maybe I should have paid better attention in case he might have actually gave me helpful advice to stand a chance in the Akatsuki or what the other members were like before I got there. If I got a little bit of a heads up about the other members, it would have been nice to at least have an idea as to what to expect when I got there. Even just their names could be beneficial so I wouldn't embarrass myself when I inquired for their names, most likely forgetting them soon after being told. I was the kind of person where some things such as names came to me very slowly. That is… except for Dei-Dei… as soon as I noticed the 'un' in his sentence, I didn't hesitate for a minute to figure out what his name was. It just came to me like a lightning bolt. Probably due to our childhood together.

"Down the rabbit hole we go!" Tobi sang as he danced ahead of Dei-Dei and I, heading straight for the secret entrance that looked like a cluster of trees making it really inconspicuous. No normal ninja could find something so well hidden; one would have to be at the very least Kage ranked in order to see the entrance. It was as if Tobi disappeared into thin air. I stared in shock for about a minute until I realized that I was being waited upon and I sprinted a bit to catch up, red climbing toward my face with embarrassment. It was going to take _a lot _of getting used to being with a bunch of S-ranked criminals if I found their doorway miraculous.

Going through the entrance was just like going through a waterfall. It must have been some incredible genjutsu being used on that door to cause that feeling to erupt through my body. There was a pounding on my head, like the water pouring roughly on one's head as if being dumped in a huge bucket. I assumed that feeling to be an affect of the genjutsu trying to get me lost in it; trying to seduce me into forgetting all about this place. The only reason I was able to get through it was because of a tug on my arm bringing me into reality. If I were in any other situation, I would have succumbed to the genjutsu in one second flat, wallowing in even more amnesia that now only concerned the location of the entrance. If I was clearly no match for even their _door_, how did they expect me to catch up to their level and aid them in some way? When I appeared on the other side, I saw that Tobi and Dei-Dei weren't even slightly affected by the door's effects.

_As to be expected from people of their level_… I mused inside my head as I continued to follow behind Tobi and Dei-Dei since I had no idea as to what to do otherwise. The place seemed empty and rather cold and barren. Not the most hospitable place to ever exist, but I suppose luxuries weren't in the job description of being a S-ranked criminal. At least there were no rodents around. The place didn't stink too badly, either. It was just the fact that it seemed a little lonely rather than anything. I never knew a place could have this affect on people. There were always comments such as 'that place is homely' or 'that house is comfortable' but until I got here, I never knew what that meant exactly. I even had to rub my arms a little bit to provide some warmth that obviously the place didn't provide. Tobi and Dei-Dei didn't seem to have a problem walking through these halls. I wondered how long each of them had been here, especially Dei-Dei. I snuck a glance that I made sure didn't linger on him for too long this time. Kurotsuchi told me that he left for the Akatsuki, but approximately how long ago? Hopefully, he wasn't here for very long because I didn't want to think that my best friend was a part of the Akatsuki for say six years and he was still trucking away at it.

There were a lot of twists and turns we took to get to our destination which became slightly irritating after a while. If I was staying in this organization, I would have to memorize these paths inside out in order to get to wherever it was we were going. After the fifth turn, I forgot the first - which made me worry about getting lost in these endless dim hallways. It was imminent for someone of my league, which made another doubt enter my mind. If I could barely enter their door and hardly walk their hallways how the heck was I hoping to even be able to meet with the other Akatsuki members let alone train with them? Dei-Dei was at least familiar to me, which was why I wasn't as scared I would have been another Akatsuki member. He also was my best friend way back and I hoped that would continue as he probably would be the only one I had in this organization. Not only that, but even if I didn't know him, I would be comfortable around him as he had this air around him that didn't seem right away intimidating. Probably because there wasn't anything immediately menacing upon first sight about him. Same with Tobi; he had the carefree nature and didn't seem like he was too smart to plan anything threatening to someone he had just met. In fact, if anything, I think he was trying to be my friend. Maybe that was why their leader had chosen them to 'fetch' for me - since they were the least frightening of the Akatsuki. I wondered what the others were like, if that was the case?

Anyway, after we finally wound our way around the hideout, we made it to this lobby-like area. The cold, barren walls seemed to settle in this area only, the walls bearing a different design. It wasn't floral or didn't have a really welcoming interior, if that was what I implied - it was just a basic look. There was cement lining the walls with intricate sculptures marking the outside. I couldn't really see what the sculptures were depicting, but I could tell they were magnificently done with an insane amount of detail. The ceiling was that of a dome, with metal bars holding it in place from all compass areas. In the middle of the dark room was a platform with a figure sitting on it; not in a menacing way, but also not in a way that made you feel like approaching and chatting with them. The platform was just slightly elevated from the ground Dei-Dei, Tobi and I were treading and it had two candles on either side of the person sitting on it. They were lit and seemingly beginning to melt quite steadily onto the ground. Still, they shone pretty brightly in such a dim place as if they knew they were the only ones providing light and did their best to make sure they did a good job of what they were created to do. There were some tall, powerful stone poles scattered around the room.

Upon our arrival, the person on the platform stood up which made the lights dance along his face, giving my eyes a chance to see this person. Since one half of his face was hidden in partial shadows, I could only give a finite description of him. I could see a row of piercings lining his face which seemed like it must have hurt to have since they were lodged in the bridge of his nose. The eye that I could see was a dark purple with multiple rings in them. I couldn't help but flinch and slightly hide myself from those eyes since it seemed he was gazing into my soul - scrutinizing my every movement as if reading my very thoughts. On his forehead he bore the forehead protector of Amegakure - yet, it was scratched right through the middle probably symbolizing his independence from his village. His hair was spiky and a bright orange, which seemed a tad unfitting for someone who had such an uncaring gaze about him. Like Dei-Dei and Tobi, he also wore the Akatsuki cloak.

"I assume you've brought the correct target." The person said in deep voice. It echoed across the room with such a boom, that it seemed that the sentence hung in the area for the longest time. His voice even made me jump a little, I was not expecting it to have such an air of authority ringing in it as well. Even more so than last time, I slunk in behind Dei-Dei and Tobi, hoping to get out of his antagonizing gaze.

"We sure have, Leader-sama!" Tobi answered in a happy tone not fazed one bit by the way the person spoke with such… demand. He even saluted him in a friendly matter which passed by unnoticed by all present. Still, the enthusiastic Tobi wasn't in the least bit discouraged once more.

"Chiasa Yamaguchi of the Baaten clan…," The person murmured, stepping forward to all of us in no real rush seeing as he just lightly walked toward us unbearably slow. The clapping of his feet against the floor echoed across the empty room, progressively getting louder the closer he got. Since he was taking his time, the anticipation built up inside of me like a balloon ready to burst. Obviously he didn't notice my mental freak out because he just stood a few feet away from me, scanning me closely. I couldn't really find anything else to do other than pretend to make eye contact with him. I actually just looked past his head at the wall behind him - looking into those ringed eyes of his just made fear and unease rush into my veins, "…also the holder of some of the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra; a pseudo jinchuuriki. Tell me, do you know why is it you're in this very room?"

It took me an awful long time to reply to him, probably because my voice was somewhere caught in my throat and my mind was focused on everything that was going on around me. I was somewhat part of the Akatsuki - a criminal organization; and I was in the presence of three of their members located in a place unknown to everyone. If I made a mistake in my choice of words or if I disrespected any of them in anyway, I highly doubt there would be any chance I would even be close to surviving. I was only chuunin rank for goodness sake; how was I supposed to fend off those who were so powerful as to gain an infamous reputation that everyone knew of and feared? Dei-Dei and Tobi didn't offer any sort of support, seeing as it was I who he was speaking to and probably if they intervened, the orange-haired man wouldn't appreciate it very much. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words trailed out.

_Come on, Chiasa, just reply as you normally would! It doesn't matter what they think of you, you didn't really want them to think of you highly, did you? So, what the heck is wrong with you? Just answer already! _Although I knew my conscious was right, my body wouldn't comply. Still, I managed to squeak out a nervous sentence due to that mode of confidence.

"B-b-because… I can a-aid you if I were a-a part of you…?" My voice sounded so _pathetic_! Never before was I in a situation like this one, but my voice never sounded like I was being strangled! Despite my mouse-like voice, I had to applaud myself in the victory of being able to respond to him without passing out.

The person finally broke awkward eye contact to sigh and add, "As you are now, no; you cannot aid us. You're much too weak to even be in our presence." Even though I clearly knew it to be true and even though I had told myself that many times - to hear it come from the lips of another person hurt a lot. Ninjas were told from the moment they begin their training that they must never show emotions on a mission, but I always found it hard. I had such a hot-headed temper that the single ignite of a ignorant comment from someone I was a flame of rage. Rage wasn't my only weakness - seeing as just that sort of comment made me feel a twinge of sadness ripple throughout my whole body, "That is why I have set up training sessions for you to take part in with the other Akatsuki members. Deidara must have told you about that?"

"He has." It didn't take me as long to answer this time around since it was an obvious answer and because he wasn't looking directly into my eyes. It was still in a small voice like I was incredibly shy in front of him - though it was fear rather than timidness.

"This doesn't mean you are an official member, yet." He warned me as though I was actually enthusiastic about becoming an Akatsuki member, "Until you are no longer weak, are able to use your Kekkai Genkai, and you have tamed the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra will you become an official Akatsuki member." Disappointment shot from my head down to my toes. 'Until you are no longer weak'? Once more, I told myself that it was true and that I said it before; yet again the pain of it coming from another person sparked to life.

Though I was beaten emotionally a tad, I couldn't stop myself from going down to my knee - much like how I would to Leader back at my village. Everyone faced me with curiosity, their eyes burning holes into my head. At the corner of my eye, I noticed that Dei-Dei was the one looking the most closely. Did he remember slightly who I was? My heart raced with excitement at the thought, but I had to focus on what I was doing now that I was facing the orange-haired man on my knee.

"M-may I ask of you… a few questions…?" I asked quietly, hoping I wasn't imposing in anyway that would upset him. The curious looks worsened for some reason. Wasn't this how they proposed questions to the leader? He _was _the leader, after all, wasn't he? Tobi did call him 'Leader-sama' which was painfully obvious. So why were they so surprised at the formality I was bestowing on the one who would control my actions until I became an official Akatsuki member? Maybe because they weren't afraid of him like I was.

"Go ahead. I'm not stopping you." he answered, not telling me to rise so I just stayed on the floor as I asked my questions. At least being in this position didn't allow me or expect of me to look him in the eye.

"What kind of… of th-things does the Akatsuki do? What is their… goal?" I inquired hopefully - not wanting to dive straight into all my questions though they were tearing away at my insides. I had to stay as calm as was possible of me at the time so I didn't get myself in trouble the moment I got to the Akatsuki base. I didn't raise my head to face any of them, but I desperately wanted some comfort while I was proposing all these questions. If only Ayumu was with me… No. I couldn't wish this upon him.

"The Akatsuki's goal is peace." The Leader replied, causing me to blink with question. They were criminals… weren't they? They had a bad name for themselves, didn't they? Yet, here he was - the leader of the whole band - telling me that their goal is peace? That wasn't possible; weren't they after something that one would usually think of such powerful criminals would want such as the world or something close to that? Why peace? My posture relaxed, but inside I was tense thinking about why they would ever want something such as that.

"…Peace?" I repeated questioningly. For some reason, when I said the word myself, there was something lighting up my heart. Now that I thought about it - that was what I wanted as well. The whole thing with the Baaten clan wanting to wage war with Iwagakure over a trivial matter never struck my fancy - I just wanted things to be settled between them. I wanted them to have… peace. In a way, I was seeking the same thing the Akatsuki wanted. Or so I was told; maybe Leader-sama wanted to put light on a dark organization to make it seem more appealing to me. Though… the way they recruited me - it wasn't like it was out of desperation: 'Join-us-or-die' kind of situation. It was more like… 'It-would-be-ideal-for-us-if-you-joined-our-ranks' kind of deal. That was no reason to make me want to be a part of the Akatsuki. So… did that mean that Leader-sama was telling the truth…?

"For the most part," The Leader of the Akatsuki continued, making me jump out from my own thoughts to pay attention, "the Akatsuki are sent in pairs to retrieve Jinchuurikis in order to absorb their bijuus from them. Once we achieve that, peace is attainable since we have the power that will shake nations onto their knees and thus the word war won't exist ever again." I found myself intrigued in Leader-sama's words. He was really adamant about this.

On this matter, I had admit that it was pretty cool that there wouldn't be anymore wars, but on the other hand, it would just be because the nations would be too scared to do anything. Everyone would live in constant fear of their every action since the Akatsuki would be breathing down their necks every second. One wrong move could spell the destruction of the entire continent. Was it a great idea to be a part of this? I wished I knew that I made the right decision to go with the Akatsuki rather than listen to Ayumu back there and just run away. Only time could tell, really. Though the anxiety running through my head wasn't exactly pleasant to have eating away at your insides.

"How many bijuus have been captured thus far?" I asked next, feeling bolder than before. One reason being that I kind of agreed with what the Akatsuki were going for, just not the means. Scaring people wasn't the way to assure peace throughout the land - no matter how much power one had. Something I believed in was kindness was the way for peoples to get along. Of course, I failed sometimes at kindness and so did every human. Though no matter what we had to keep trying and failing because that was a human's nature.

"Sadly, our collection could be better." Leader-sama replied to this, sighing.

"That's only because we have to stand around for three days straight! It makes Tobi's back hurt so much!" Tobi whined rubbing his back. Leader-sama gave him this passive glance which immediately told everyone that he didn't care at all. I kind of found myself smiling; Tobi really knew how to make a tense atmosphere lighter. Dei-Dei took the liberty of shoving Tobi out of the room - I guess that passive glance of Leader-sama's indicating annoyance. I had to make sure I remembered that look for future reference.

Which soon would be put into use because after those two left, it was just Leader-sama and I in the room. Sweat coated my face as I held my breath in front of him - trying remain calm and collected to gain some sort of approval from him. Just anything besides that annoyed glance that would end me if I saw it too often.

"So… when you say that, you mean you don't have a lot of bijuus collected yet?" I continued my rally of questions for him. He didn't seem angry at all them, so I assumed it was safe water to tread for the time being.

"Yes. Of course, all the Akatsuki are scattered around in search of them. We will get all of them soon enough." Leader-sama told me.

"I see… so why does the Akatsuki require me? I'm merely chuunin rank; nothing to note and in fact more of a burden on you than anything." Thinking of the bijuu they were in desperate search for, I gulped silently, "Wouldn't you just absorb the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra inside of me and go on without a passing thought?"

"You only hold a piece of the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra; not the Beast itself. What we want from you is to fight for us and our endeavor." Leader-sama enlightened, "Since you have a part of the Beast, going up against the real thing wouldn't be as difficult for you as it would for any of us as you two would be basically one in the same. That is, once you have tamed it." At this, I stopped and pondered a bit. So… the whole reason I joined the Akatsuki was so it would be easier for them to conquer the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Beast? The way he explained it, it made sense. Though, when I had finished my job, what then? Would I continue to be an Akatsuki member or would they get rid of me? I see no reason for them to be rid of me as they might need either my Kekkai Genkai in the future or my tamed Beast's chakra's power.

"What about my clan? Currently, I'm on a mission for them…," I asked.

"As I said before, you are not a permanent member of the Akatsuki. Once you fulfill what we want from you, you may go back to your clan and finish your mission if you wish. If not, you can stay in the Akatsuki as an official member." said Leader-sama. That answered my unspoken 'what-will-happen-after-this?' question as well, thankfully. I was glad I was given such freedom in my choice even though it was granted to me by criminals. You know, I was beginning to think that they weren't as bad as they were made out to be. They wanted peace - although achieved in… _different_… ways - and they were giving someone who they could easily be rid of in a matter of seconds quite a wide range of choices. Though, only one thing bothered me…

"What if I tell everything I know to my people about you?" I wondered.

"You won't." Leader-sama's voice darkened in a threatening way that made shivers crawl up my spine, "Of course we'll clear your memory of us before you leave so nothing of us gets out." Though his voice went back to normal again which made me ease up a bit, his answer bothered me still.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just kill me? I mean, that would be the more assured way to make sure nothing is told to anyone." I questioned. Almost as soon as I asked it, I felt something cold press against the back of my neck. I stiffened.

"Do you want to die by our hands? Would you prefer it?" Leader-sama almost demanded of me. Quickly, I shook my head as my answer and he withdrew his weapon from my neck once again. It felt like I just dodged a bullet and it grazed right over my head, cutting the hairs that were closest to my skull. My hands were shaking like crazy and I drew in shallow breaths - I was really close to losing my life. He even had that air that told me of his intent to kill me was real. Not wanting my head bowed in a perfect position for him again, I stood before him, clutching onto my arm that had goose bumps trailed all over it, "The reason we wouldn't kill you is because if we took the time to train you and get you ready for the jinchuuriki, it would be a waste especially since we could use you for further purposes at our whim. Not only that, but it's because of your brother. Since he's still alive, he must have told the Baaten clan what happened. If all of a sudden you're dead, that could cause problems for us if they desire revenge."

I frowned, hoping that the bitter darkness that I was slightly getting used to would cover my face from him so he wouldn't see my distaste on the matter. So, I was a tool for the Akatsuki as I was the Baaten clan? In a way, I was getting tired of it - I was a person; and the Nine Tailed Beast was just inside of me. It didn't make me… me. Sadly, there was no way out of both: The Baaten clan was my family and I couldn't ever betray them while the Akatsuki were much more powerful than me to a degree where no matter what I tried I wouldn't be able to overthrow their control over me. How does a student defeat the teacher?

"Yet, if my memory was wiped clean, how do you get me back when you need me if you have absolutely no idea where I am at the time?" I countered, trying to override the idea of being controlled so much. Even I could have a_ little _freedom, right? Well, considering everything he was telling me, I was granted quite a bit of freedom. Just not a lot if I could be summoned at any moment by them

Leader-sama made direct eye contact when he said, "We'll find you. After all, we found you today; what makes any other time different?" Once again, the shivers ran their icy fingers along my back. Despite not being as timid around Leader-sama now, I still feared the man probably more than I did being consumed by the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra.

"Wouldn't I be unwilling to go with you if I didn't know who you are?" I wondered.

"The locked memories could be easily activated again upon seeing something or hearing a certain word." Leader-sama suggested, as if he didn't really know himself.

"So, basically, hypnotism?"

"We can't say for sure yet. After all, you've got to decide whether or not you're staying in the Akatsuki or going back to your clan. Once _you_ decide so we shall also depending on your choice." He said.

"Why are you giving me such freedom?"

"Since we are giving you choices, you aren't as likely to turn on us because you were the one to decide what you wanted." said Leader-sama, "Besides, no matter what, in the end, we all get what we want. A peaceful way to settle things." _Peaceful_… there was that word again. He must really like peace if he mentioned it quite a bit and made it the Akatsuki's ultimate goal. Also… for the leader of the Akatsuki, he was acting really fair. I got to finish my mission and while getting a choice to stay with the Akatsuki - which meant not having to feud with Iwagakure or the Baaten clan - or going back to my family. 'We both get what he want', huh? If only that was the conclusion to what happened all those years ago for Iwagakure and the Baaten clan.

Once again, I bowed to him, but didn't go on the knee; just bent really low at the waist out of deep appreciation for his fairness, "Thank you for answering my questions. I shouldn't forget my place and ask anymore today; tomorrow we could continue if you are available."

"All right. Then you are free to do whatever you wish as long as you stay hidden in here. A room has been provided for your arrival - Deidara shall escort you there. In the mean time, I'll ask the nearest Akatsuki members to see if they will train you." Leader-sama told me. I got up from my bow and nodded my head once in agreement. He returned my respectful nod as he stepped around me, calling upon Dei-Dei to escort me on his way out.

Now that my confrontation with Leader-sama was over, seeing Dei-Dei again made me automatically clutch onto my necklace in a tight grip. He approached me slowly while I just stared at him, feeling that need to tell him that we knew each other way back when. I hoped it didn't bother him that every time he was around, my eyes would be glued onto him. It was just that… I really didn't know how to bring it up. I mean, with Kurotsuchi, it was easy because I was going to ask about him to her. Now that I was face-to-face with him, I wasn't prepared in the slightest. When he stood before me, my mouth opened to say his name, but I would always catch myself before then, the doubts filling me to that point. Why not, though? Best friends could say anything to each other! _Because he wasn't my best friend anymore_…

I shook my head out of that trance because I heard him say something, but I didn't quite catch it, "Huh? S-sorry… I didn't hear you." He sighed with annoyance at my lack of attentiveness which made me feel like the more I wanted to remain friends with him, the more I was ruining my image of myself to him.

"Come on, I'll show you where your room is." He repeated despite being irritated with me. Turning on his heel, he began walking toward the exit to the lobby area, not waiting for me to catch up. I sprinted a bit to walk steadily behind him while he escorted me.

While walking the maze-like hallways, I couldn't help but stare at the back of Dei-Dei's head. Why didn't he recognize me? Cutting ties with your village didn't make you forget the face of a person who you hung out with everyday. If that was the case, it was up to me to help him remember even though it was for the benefit of helping me remember about my past. Yet… how? How could I if I froze up every time I was just about to ask of it?

"Why do you keep on staring at me like that?" Dei-Dei asked me, even though he didn't turn around. I was startled at the sudden question. I totally forgot that I was nearly burning holes into the back of his head with my constant gaze. Blush burned my cheeks with embarrassment. Though, since it was my obligation to answer, did it mean that this was the time to ask the question? I could only pray that I didn't stop in the middle of asking.

"I-I… it's just… do you… do you know me?" I stuttered like a madman. Seriously, it was as if I choking on something. The words just kept getting knocked around by something.

There was immense confusion in his voice when he said, "_Yeah_…after all, I was the one who brought you here. Of course I know who you are." At this I quickly became flustered. I was messing everything up! That was the worst way to put the question!

"N-no! I mean… _before_; did you know me before today?" All of a sudden, he stopped short, causing me to nearly run into him if I wasn't so aware of his presence. My heart was beating inside my chest worse than my flapping gums which were gathering in shallow breaths as I gained the courage to meet with his disturbed crystal eyes. There was a scowl drawn on his face as he gazed down upon me as if I were a stranger to him. I bit on the inside of my mouth, trying not to skip out on trying to convince him that I was the Chiasa Yamaguchi he was best friends with back at Iwagakure. If I let my mouth open for a bit, I just knew that I was going to blab and tell him to forget I even said anything.

"What do you mean, un?" He asked next not answering my question. My eyes scanned the floor - trying to figure out how to explain myself. I was slightly intimidated by him - yet, I somehow got the guts to get this far; I couldn't stop now! I had to carry this on as far as I could. More than once I opened my mouth to reply but came up empty-handed. Every time that happened, I feared he would turn around and leave me to find my designated room by myself since I wasn't immediately answering him.

"Uh… we-well, in I-Iwagakure… I used to live there… Baaten clan…," I responded in the exact same manner as before which seemed to annoy him more than not saying anything at all. Kurotsuchi was right in that he had a short temper. Leader-sama would wait patiently for me to finish my sentences without even a sign of that irritated glance that he gave Tobi. Maybe it was just common for people to react that way around him, "…Y-you and I… were kind of… ish best friends… then?" I closed my eyes tightly and clenched my teeth together as I braced myself for his reply whatever it may be. Would he remember? Use the memories he had against me? The anticipation ate away at my insides until finally, he said:

"I've never seen you before in my life."

My eyes shot opened wide at those words. They speared their way into my heart, causing it to constrict and tighten inside my chest as if writhing. I went to look into his crystal eyes to see what kind of expression they were holding, but already he turned around again and began walking away from me. I watched him get farther and farther away from me - in more ways than one. I would've preferred if he had at least told me he didn't remember in a little bit more of a kinder way, but I guessed that was what the Akatsuki had done to his heart; made it into stone. My head hung as I brought my hands together; the rejection making me not have the energy I once had to follow him again. Though, as I was forced, I dragged my feet beneath me as I steadily sauntered behind him - making sure to stay a few feet away.

Without another word, Dei-Dei and I made it to a room located deep in the maze-like hallways of the hideout. The only words exchanged between us was Dei-Dei giving me directions so I was able to find my way to the lobby-like area Leader-sama and I spoke again. Though I knew I was bound to forget it, I nodded my head in response anyway - just so he could leave me in peace to sort out my thoughts. After that, Dei-Dei soon left to where I supposed the exit was. Even after his bitter reply, I watched him leave until he turned the corner.

_Why don't you remember? _I repeatedly asked inside my head, wishing it could've been directed toward him out loud. Why didn't I have the guts to do that before?! I mean, come on; I had already brought the conversation that far and yet I couldn't even ask the question that was nagging at my mind? I sighed with a deep depression. I had such high hopes of once again befriending him since I was forced to stay with the Akatsuki for the time being. Yet, they got crushed with that one sentence.

I clutched onto my necklace that he had given me so long ago. Surely if this wasn't under my chuunin vest so conveniently hidden from his sight, it would've have given him proof of my words and maybe even triggered a memory of us. Putting a hand upon my doorknob, I scowled deeply. Of course just a vague confrontation like that with little to no proof or evidence that would aid in jogging his memory would cause him to say something like that. I couldn't just give up! After all, if he didn't remember now, he would remember later. Just like myself; I didn't remember everything right away - it was just something that built up over time. Albeit, it was an excruciatingly _long _process, yet results would eventually show up. I just had to give it time.

Pushing the door and myself forward, I peered curiously inside my room. At first it was really dark inside, there wasn't even a window to provide any light. I had to feel around a little bit and use the light flooding in from the door to find a candle and light it. When I did, I got a fairly decent view of the room. There was a neatly made bed in one corner of the room - which I knew I was going to be in shortly; I was deathly tired from all that had happened today. The candle in which I had found was on an oak desk that didn't look too luxurious, but it was better than nothing. When I looked inside the drawers, I noticed that there were plenty of scrolls inside that varied greatly in sizes. I pulled out one, just to see what stuff they expected me to learn. The scroll rolled out easily as I opened it and saw that there was a long line of hands seals to memorize. Blinking slowly at the number of seals that were needed for this one move, I closed it immediately and stuffed it back inside the drawer and shut it with a slight bang. Other than those things, it was an empty room.

_That's all right. I'll only be staying here for a little while - why make them waste so much money on me?_ Shrugging my kitbag off my shoulders, I placed it onto my desk so it leaned against the wall. After that, I went to jump into bed, but I realized just before that I still had the lily hairpin in my hair. Taking it out, I looked down at it.

What was going to be my answer? Should I stay with the Akatsuki or should I go back to my clan? Either way, the Akatsuki would still be an influence in my life; either way, I could fulfill my mission for the Baaten clan. A mission which was or was not my last mission for them. Even though I was given so many choices when it came down to it, I still felt like there was a huge burden on me. Was I over thinking this too much? Of course, I didn't have to answer right away as it would decide my whole future. Staying with the Akatsuki would mean that I would become a criminal; hunted down for the rest of my life. Yet, I would be freed from the hate of the Baaten clan that always caused me grief. Not going back to the Baaten clan would mean leaving my family, friends… yet, if I left, then I could protect those people in my own way; away from the village. I scratched my head with annoyance; why couldn't I decide? Or better yet, what did I always make cons into pros? That made decision making so much harder!

_Maybe the future will change things_…_ not just to decide what I should do after I helped the Akatsuki; but also what I was going to do to help get Dei-Dei's memory back. Once I remember, I could also help Dei-Dei with his memory loss. Though, I don't know when _that_ will be_…

Sighing once again, I jumped into the bed and wrapped myself in the blankets like a cocoon. The warmth overtook me, yet I still found it hard to fall asleep. It was probably because of the thought that I was in the Akatsuki hideout sleeping in a dark, unknown room shook my brain awake. For some time, I found myself just staring at the walls until finally sleep drove its forceful hand over me, causing me to fall asleep like a rock.


	9. VIII - The Akatsuki (Part 2)

For the next few days, it was basically the same thing over and over again: I would wake up utterly alone (I assumed the rest of my questions would be answered later on), find some leftovers waiting for me in the morning which would have to do me the whole day; wander around in search of anyone or anything yet at the same time trying not to get lost; and try my hand at some of the jutsus that were written in the scrolls. There was this cool one that I tried to learn, but even still couldn't really get the hang of it. It was called Earth Release: Earth Spear where it allowed my arm to become as hard as a diamond. Despite my enthusiasm about learning it, the hand seals came slow to me and how to perfect such a difficult technique came even slower. I wished there was someone around to help me with it, yet everyone was probably too busy out doing something about the bijuus.

I missed having those training sessions with Ayumu were I would usually blindfold myself and try to get into practice sensing chakra. I couldn't use that training anymore since there was no chakra to sense besides my own. The blindfold was like a precious keepsake that I liked to keep around with me at times when I felt lonely. Momma's hairpin helped a lot with that as well. My thoughts even kept my occupied from the idea that I was so lonesome. They kept going back to making my final decision about staying with the Akatsuki or not and to what I would tell Dei-Dei the next time I got a chance. Though I still didn't come up with an answer for Leader-sama, I was fairly sure he wouldn't bust a gut trying to beat an answer out of me. After all, I still had to go through all my training and I didn't quite yet have a solid reason to join them.

One of the days I was just hanging around waiting for the Akatsuki members of whom I would be training under there was a commotion down the hallways from my room. I just finished my ration of food for breakfast, so I decided to poke my nose out to see what was going on. When I did, though, I saw the red and black cloaks of Akatsuki members, so I shut the door over a little bit more so I could just barely see and hear what was going on.

"Why do we have to waste our time training the bitch?" An annoyed voice of a young male complained. Since my vision wasn't the greatest, I had to make the assumptions that he was talking to Leader-sama and that 'the bitch' was me. I leaned in closer, trying to hear a little bit better when a softer voice replied to him.

"You heard Leader-sama; stop complaining." I faltered a little bit when my theory about the first guy talking to Leader-sama was wrong, but I didn't lose my curious edge.

That is, until the door was ripped opened which revealed to me a man with short silver hair and frustrated purple eyes. He glared down at me, as if willing away my existence as the other guy - his partner, I guessed - came in as well. On the silver haired man's back was a giant scythe that had three deadly red blades. He was much taller than I which frightened me so bad that I took a few steps away from him. Not only that, but he seemed really powerful even though I had seen nothing of his skills or abilities yet. He was a well built man that was plainly revealed to all considering he wore his Akatsuki cloak wide opened.

When I switched my gaze over to his partner, I was surprised to see passive green eyes that owned no pupil. A dusty grey mask covered his mouth and a hood-like thing covered his head as if he had something to hide. His forehead protector showed that he was originally from Takigakure. He looked much older than the silver haired man which made me wonder how much experience he had and exactly how old he was. Obviously, if he was any older than the silver haired man and was a part of the Akatsuki, he must be quite the foe.

"So you're the new bitch that Leader was talking about." The silver haired man said, scanning me up and down. There was a long pause until I realized that I was supposed to answer him. Shakily, I nodded my head up and down in reply. Man… I felt so nervous! I knew the day was coming when I was going to meet with more Akatsuki members, yet I was as scared as I was with Leader-sama.

"Nothing more than a child." The other masked guy sighed softly to himself though I heard it quite distinctly. I wasn't exactly appreciating the way I was being counted down so early, but if that was what they thought of me, then it was all right. As long as I tried my hardest, they couldn't say a thing that could lower me. Besides, what they were saying was partially true since I was only sixteen - not even an adult and I was really inexperienced compared to them. Instead of complaining about their attitude toward me, I bowed to them deeply, trying to be as sincere as I could.

"Under your teachings I will undoubtedly try my best to meet up with your standards." With just that one sentence, I used as much etiquette as I was taught to know. It kind of made me sound like I had a stick up my butt, but I didn't want to anger them with moodiness since we just met. In fact, I wanted our relationship to be neutral - neither hateful nor friendly; just so training will go by much faster and easier than if I tried to get on their good sides.

Only the masked man acknowledged my respectfulness whereas the silver haired man groaned murmuring something under his breath, "Chiasa, was it? My name is Kakuzu; and my annoying partner is Hidan." The silver haired man - Hidan - immediately blasted at Kakuzu for calling him that.

"I'm not fucking annoying! You're the money absorbed shithead who annoys everyone!" Hidan bellowed rudely back. They went on a rally of insults that I had no and didn't want to have any part in. I just kind of slunk back, waiting patiently for them to finish although it kind of enraged me that they didn't at least try to settle their differences for one moment. Honestly, what was Leader-sama thinking putting these two on a team together if they constantly bickered?

"Hidan, we're getting off track." Kakuzu-san reminded the infuriated Hidan. He raised an eyebrow with confusion until Kakuzu-san pointed to me - reminding him that I was still there. It was as if he had seen me again for the first time. I would have sighed, if it wasn't an S-ranked criminal we were talking about. Hidan didn't say anything to me though, he just scowled and breathed deeply out through his nose as he left the room. With him gone, I had to admit, I wasn't as scared. Kakuzu-san at least tried to be at least a little bit kind, but Hidan ruined his image for me by 1) calling me a bitch, 2) groaning loudly for all to hear when I tried to be polite and 3) forgetting my presence in three seconds. Didn't he care what others thought of him? Wait - duh; that was an obvious question.

Anyway, Kakuzu-san motioned for me to follow them so I listened obediently. I assumed we were going to either the lobby or outside to train. Actually, going outside didn't sound so bad. I hadn't seen the sun for a few days and I was beginning to miss it. Sadly, that wasn't where we were going; probably due to Leader-sama's orders. Oh well, considering they could be doing far worse to me than just keeping me indoors, it was actually a luxury. Hidan kept to himself the whole way there, yet, so did Kakuzu-san. It wasn't my place to strike up a conversation and I doubt either of them would appreciate it much. Kakuzu-san seemed like a quiet person and Hidan hated me already; my incessant chatter would fall on deaf ears.

When we made it to the lobby, Hidan stubbornly walked over to the platform and just sat there, eyebrows knitted closely together. He probably didn't want to do this at all and I suppose in a way I felt sorry for him. To be dragged in the middle of doing something to train someone you didn't know or really care about must suck quite a lot. Still, it wasn't really my choice to be here as much as it was his. Kakuzu-san just seemed to put up with having to be forced to train me like this - if he had any qualms about the whole matter he definitely wasn't showing it. He just stood before me a few feet away and faced me, scanning me thoroughly. There was no doubt in my mind that he was judging my abilities by my appearance alone. I felt bad that he wasn't going to get very good results inside of his mind since I was kind of on the thin side, there was hardly any muscle on me, I wasn't outlandishly tall either - about five foot six inches. There were no obscenely strong features that immediately stood out in me. Still, I hoped that he would count at least _something_ good about me.

Kakuzu-san sighed, "Well, show us what you can do."

Nodding, I began my little show for him by throwing some kunais and shuriken stars into the nearest stone pillar, hoping that I was strong enough to let the metal sink into the stone even just a little bit. I tried but failed slightly when I tried to make the kunais and shuriken stars all land in a neat column, but some fell out of place. I didn't want to let that bother me so I ran up to get them again by climbing up the stone pillar, retrieving the ones that were lodged into the stone and kicked back off. As I was falling back down another idea to impress them jumped into my mind. I threw five kunais, hurdling them straight ahead. When they were doing that, then I summoned the earth up to hit each of them upwards. They spun for awhile in the air, just as I hit them again with earth from the walls which ended the spinning so it was easier for me to manage shooting them around. From there, I slapped them with clay whips from the earth I had already summoned which sent them flying out toward me unrelentingly. I took a deep breath just as I jumped back into the air again while pulling out a string where one could put kunais in a line at their hip if they chose. I threw out the barely seeable line so that the hole of the kunai at the back and the hole in the middle of shuriken stars were perfectly in sync and so went onto the line. Though it sounded so cool, I could only get a few of them on the line whereas the others just flew around randomly onto the floor.

I made contact with the ground again and ended my little show for them there. Kakuzu-san didn't seem in the slightest impressed - he had probably seen much more amazing feats being performed on a daily basis. Hidan hardly blinked his eye in my direction as a scowl was drawn deeply on his face. I was discouraged. Maybe I should have tried something a little bit more exciting - something worth getting up in your seat for. Though… I didn't know a whole lot yet that would make people of their stature as thoroughly struck by the primitive moves that I almost perfected. Choking back a sigh, I went over to collect my weapons.

"…We have a lot of damn work to do, eh, Old Man?" Hidan called to Kakuzu-san mockingly. If I was depressed before, I was now embarrassed of my mediocre abilities, ashamed that my effort to impress them was so useless, angry at Hidan for calling my bluff like that and at myself that I didn't take a stand when stupid old Hidan had to go and shoot his mouth off like that. He was once at this stage in his life too, I'll bet!

"So, you use Earth Release?" Kakuzu-san asked rather than reply to Hidan. I was grateful that he just dropped the subject that Hidan started so I nodded jauntily in response.

"I don't know a whole lot, though." I warned him, feeling another two cents from Hidan in the happening. Before he could get across, though, I added, "I know Devouring Earth, Earth Dragon Bullet, and Earth Clay clone. There was a scroll that I found in my desk one day called Earth Spear that I was trying to learn, but couldn't quite get it." When I said the name of the move, Kakuzu-san's dull green eyes seemed to spark with recognition - the kind of look that I wanted to flash through Dei-Dei's eyes when I told him my name. Shaking my head quickly, I chastised myself - I was supposed to be focusing on the lesson! If I angered them by not listening, I wouldn't want to find out what kind of punishment they had in store.

Kakuzu-san began making hand signs - the types and the order of them being to what I remembered Earth Spear having. I watched intently as he finished them with such ease and how his arm changed into a darker color; like that of dirt. He extended out his arm for what I assumed for me to examine. When I came over and looked at it - he really looked like he transformed his arm into a different substance. I asked quietly with a red face for permission to… _feel _the texture of his new arm. He didn't seem to mind me asking as he allowed me. When I ran my fingers along his transformed arm, I found that it was like touching a really tough stone. I was awed; this was what it was like to perfect this move.

"Wow…," I breathed, still amazed even though Kakuzu-san ended the jutsu, "Could you teach me how to use that move?"

"You know the hand signs, right?" Kakuzu-san asked to which I answered with a nod, "Then try it out on your own first." I immediately did as I was told; not wasting a minute as I ran through the hand signs through my head once before doing anything. Then, I quickly began completing the signs - but in a slightly slower pace than what Kakuzu-san did them at because I wanted to make sure I didn't mess up. After I finished the hand signs, I began to falter - this was where I usually messed up; was I going to do it this time? I collected the earth into my arm as per usual, but this time I tried to swirl it around my arm rather than just pile it all together like I tried last time. The swirling worked for a time, but then it all exploded in my face when I thought it was time to sustain it in one place. I nearly fell backwards, just regaining my balance before falling completely on my back. Hidan bursted out laughing at my failure which made the disappointment come on worse than it would have without him around. Kakuzu-san didn't chide me horrifically nor encourage me even a little.

"You were collecting the earth around your arm properly, but you didn't make the chakra go into sync with the earth." Kakuzu-san speculated. How he knew what I was doing with my chakra and the earth eluded me, but he must have some awesome sense of chakra if he could detect the motion it was moving in even if he didn't seem to have full attention on it. He folded his arms across his chest, seemingly annoyed as he also shot a glare at Hidan who was still chuckling a bit. Hidan gave him a glare back which made the room tense for about a minute but it was better than him laughing at me. Kakuzu-san sighed and said to me, "Try it again."

This time, I focused on what Kakuzu-san told me in order to perfect this move. It was difficult focusing on my chakra as well as the earth element at the same time because usually one has to insert the chakra first into the element then they are able to manipulate whatever type of element they have. Though, I guessed that was what made this move so advanced. Anyway, I moved my chakra and the earth pretty slowly just to get used to moving the two of them at the same time. It took nearly all my concentration whereas with Kakuzu-san it took only the blink of his eye in order to complete it. That was what it meant to perfect this move. Even though I had done it extremely slow, I finally got it done - I made my arm like Kakuzu-san's!

With my all my pride beaming out of me I extended my arm with a giant smile stretching across my face for him to see, "I did it! I can use Earth Spear!" Kakuzu-san narrowed his eyes at me, making my radiant happiness of learning the move dissipate almost immediately. I canceled the move and brought it back to my side, "…That is, with your help, Kakuzu-san."

"If you were to use that attack in a fight, you would be dead before you even knew it; with the rate you completed the move." Kakuzu-san told me, causing me to flinch with hurt. There was no praise, but instead only room for improvement. _It isn't like back home, Chiasa; it never will be._ My heart continued beating with lowliness, "You have to go faster. Not only that…," Kakuzu-san approached me to which I found the urge to run away immediately. He easily towered above me when he was before me - though, I never followed my instinct to move. I looked up at him wide-eyed, for some reason expecting him to hit me.

Instead, he just told me to use Earth Spear again and so I listened quickly not wanting to ask questions to someone like him. After a long time of waiting for me to complete the move, Kakuzu-san had to bend over to meet with my eye-level. Taking my hand between two fingers, he pressed down, inflicting a dull pain to which I couldn't help but gasp at. How was I feeling that? He was hardly even trying to hurt me and I could feel it as easily as I would if I didn't have Earth Spear activated! Did that mean that I didn't actually complete the move as well as I was capable of? Kakuzu-san stood up again shaking his head with disappointment.

"…You didn't even harden your arm enough. There needs to be more chakra and earth - you're not giving it a sufficient amount." Kakuzu-san informed me, once more neglecting any praise for me to feel the need to perfect this move. I hung my head sadly but nodded with understanding. In other words, he meant: 'You're not able to learn this move at your current level.' Kakuzu-san paced for a moment, his arms crossed.

"Oi, Old Man! You're gonna have to start with the basics!" Hidan shouted to us once more, an irritating smirk displayed across his face, "She doesn't know enough to use a move like that! How about you teach her how to make a Bushin?" With that, Hidan laughed a bit more at the expense of any pride I might of had at that moment. Kakuzu-san just rolled his eyes at Hidan once again, but didn't listen to him one bit. Maybe that was how I should react around Hidan - just tune him out. I mean, if he wasn't going to say anything intelligent why listen to him?

"Hmm… perhaps Earth Flow Wave would be a better jutsu to begin with…," Kakuzu-san murmured to himself, but then turned to me. I didn't want to make a fool of myself by just standing there waiting for him to teach me an alternate move so I got my hands ready to perform hand seals in an instant. Kakuzu-san - even if he didn't mean it - had a glimmer of respect in his eye for me even though the… _terms _(I guess you could call it that)of which I was learning under weren't the greatest considering if I made a mistake it would get discouraged or told that my best wasn't good enough.

Anyway, Kakuzu-san told me the hand seals which I completed as he went along and he guided me into using the move. I had to admit that it wasn't as hard as Earth Spear, but even still it took me some time to learn it fully. I had to collect the earth from underneath me and make it into a spire - sort of like what a pinnacle looked like. Kakuzu-san told me there was a follow up to that move, but I wouldn't be learning it today. I was kind of grateful for that because I was beginning to run out of chakra.

"To end off this training session, we'll have you spar with Hidan." Kakuzu-san told me much to my surprise - and to Hidan's. Immediately, Hidan got to his feet and protested like a crazy man. If Hidan agreed to the spar, I would most likely die by the end of today.

"There is no way in _hell _I'm going to spar with her!" Hidan shouted right in Kakuzu-san's ear. Kakuzu-san seemed used to it as he brushed it off like he was merely whispering, "You know it's against my religion to leave people only half-dead! _You _spar with her!"

"I already taught her a move, now it's your turn to contribute." Kakuzu-san replied calmly walking over to the platform and sat on it much like Hidan did to mock him. Hidan's face turned a bright red with fury, but then he pulled out his scythe with a vengeance as he faced me with his teeth bared much like a predator ready to kill their prey. My eyes widened with fear for my life - I hadn't ever seen a man like this before. He was almost animalistic the way he faced me. Luckily, Kakuzu-san called out, "No jutsus, Hidan. Only taijutsu. That means your scythe is disqualified." Hidan spat on the ground, a little less enraged than before.

"Like I'd listen to you! I'll do whatever the hell I please!" Hidan said getting into a stance. My heart pounded in my ears. He was really going to kill me! My knees quivered with the cold grip the fright had on my heart. Still, I pulled out a kunai so at least I had something to deflect that scythe of his with and took a gulp.

Immediately - before I could come up with a decent plan - Hidan came charging for me without remorse. I gasped silently at how fast he was - I barely had any time to dodge his scythe coming down upon me. Just as I kicked off the ground to get out of the way, the scythe connected with my leg and ripped a large hole in it. I grunted with pain as I tried to stand again, but found it difficult with the giant wound Hidan mercilessly gave me. When I faced him with one eye closed to bear with the pain, I saw him lick my blood off his scythe which I found utterly disgusting and strange. It was like he enjoyed my pain with that giant smile that had formed on his face.

Not wanting to lose so easily by him - not that he _wanted_ to end it just there anyway - I ran staggeringly toward him with my kunai in my hand to get close. His scythe came down again as he saw me coming, but I stopped the blade from connecting with me again with help of the kunai, but it was a struggle to keep it that way. His power was quickly overriding mine and I had to improvise unless I wanted my head to fly off my shoulders. I brought my knee up to slam it into his stomach but he blocked it by bringing the scythe's handle to halt my knee. After that, he easily threw me away; one of the three blades of his scythe running across my face and made the kunai in my hand to fly off into the dark room somewhere in the distance.

Hidan let out a crazed laugh that seemed foreign to what his voice sounded like before - like battle brought out another side of him. I swiped away the blood on my face that kept dropping from my face anyway. Looking from left to right, up and down, I tried to think of a way to get out of this mess. Hidan had gone mad - probably forgetting that I was partially in the Akatsuki thus we were allies - and I wasn't nearly strong enough to fend him off on my own. I turned to Kakuzu-san who just watched closely, evaluating every going on. Hope faded from my sight when it seemed that Kakuzu-san didn't even think that I was worth keeping alive. Though, I had learned a move he spent time teaching me - I had to be worth something!

Flipping his scythe around so that it was now pointed in his direction, Hidan ripped his side open, the blood squirting out like an orange. I was horrified - what the heck was he planning by doing something sick like that?! With that smile that seemed permanently screwed onto his face, he actually seemed to be enjoying the pain. I knew that the Akatsuki was full of strong and intelligent ninjas gone bad, but what was this called? Did they pick Hidan up from the suicidal looney bin or what? Using his blood that pooled around his feet, Hidan slid one foot around in a circle so that it surrounded him…

Before I even saw it coming, Kakuzu-san had a tight grip around Hidan's throat with Hidan's feet dangling above the circle of blood he had created. He still sat on the platform and black strings extended from his forearm and the one that held Hidan. Kakuzu-san gave Hidan a dirty glare while I just stared in shock. Was this Kakuzu-san's power?

"I told you before: No jutsus." Kakuzu-san warned him.

Hidan croaked, "OK, OK! I get it! Now let me go, you son of a bitch!" The strings slunk back to Kakuzu-san's arm as he released Hidan's neck. Hidan fell back on the floor, but didn't crumble as most people would if they were caught in such a hold and had such a wound.

As if nothing happened, Hidan swiped the dust off of his cloak with a scowl on his face. I gaped at the two of them in disbelief - were these really the type of people the Akatsuki had? How could I ever match up to _that_?! I slightly wondered what kind of jutsu Hidan was going to use, but then again, maybe it was better that I didn't know. If Kakuzu-san decided to stop him even though Hidan had broke his rules prior then it must have been something powerful.

"It's not _just_ a jutsu," Hidan added sneering at Kakuzu-san, "It's a gift of power given to me by the Almighty Jashin-sama!" I didn't comment or ask any questions in fear of Hidan going into that wild state again. I never wanted to see that ever again.

"The only one who cares is you." Kakuzu-san said, dismissive. Though, Hidan continued the argument with shouting and yelling. Kakuzu-san would just reply calmly while Hidan was in a fit of rage - in a way, I was happy that their attention was shifted to something other than my pathetic abilities and skill.

Though, I couldn't relish in their permissive attention because my gravely wounded leg gave out from beneath me. They both turned to me, unconcerned, no doubt, but I didn't care. I struggled to get up again but the pain was too great for me to even stand. I couldn't believe that I was actually able to run with this wound - but maybe that was the adrenaline pushing me forward so I wouldn't be killed by Hidan. Kakuzu-san took the liberty to check my wound to which he didn't seem too concerned of. That told me, at least, that my injury wasn't serious. I severely wished I could use my Kekkai Genkai so they didn't have to be forced to watch out for me - even if it wasn't out of care.

Kakuzu-san extended his arm and from underneath his sleeve came the black strings from before. At first I was worried he was just going to end me since I was useless to them wounded, but instead the strings went into my leg. It hurt a lot, but not as much as the wound Hidan originally gave me. Slowly, the strings moved around, stitching together my skin. I put up with the pain by clenching my teeth together tightly, but I really felt like stopping him from continuing. It was for the betterment of my injury so I couldn't really speak against it. With a final tug, the stitching was completed and nearly closed with only time left to heal it.

"Keep practicing that move I taught you and we'll continue tomorrow." Kakuzu-san told me to which I replied with a curt nod. Getting to my feet now that my wound was a little bit more stable now, I bowed to Kakuzu-san and partially to Hidan. Although the only thing he did was hurt me verbally and physically, he still took time to train me and I guess that needed to be recognized.

"Thank you very much." I said to them sounding a little robotic. They didn't say anything to that and left without a sound. As soon as they were gone, I went over to the platform and even though it wasn't comfortable at all, I laid down on my back on it. I stared up at the ceiling for the longest time, only feeling the throbbing wound in my leg and on my cheek. That whole training left me completely drained; I couldn't do that again tomorrow. Did they think of me some freaky person who could withstand that kind of training everyday?

The only thing that got me up was the rumbling of my stomach telling me to get off of my lazy butt and eat something. Staggering through the narrow, empty hallways, I finally made it to my room. The food was disgustingly stale, but it was the only thing I had so I ate it as happily as I could. Since it was stale already, I wondered what time it was and how much time I spent training with them. It felt really long, but since there was no clock or even a sun to go by for that matter I had absolutely no idea. Surely going outside for a few minutes couldn't hurt anyone - least of all the Akatsuki. I mean, who in their right mind would accidentally go wandering to that specific part of the woods and see me? I suppose since they were always on the run they couldn't take any chances - even if it was insignificant.

After that, I reached into my kitbag and shuffled things around until I finally found some herbs that I had found while in the clearing with Ayumu that would speed up the healing process of my wound. People of the Baaten clan, even with their Kekkai Genkai, were taught of every known herb and what they did. This was a great thing for me considering I didn't even have a Kekkai Genkai available. Of course, even with all this knowledge that was carried onto me, I didn't know exactly _every _herb. I sighed; I should have paid more attention.

Since my chakra had been drained quite a bit and I lost a bit of blood, I hit the sack earlier than I usually would have. Lifting the blankets up to my chin, I found myself staring at the ceiling again - thinking deeply about different matters. They just kept darting from thought to thought until, slowly but thankfully, sleep claimed me.


	10. IX - Venture

A loud, impatient slam was my wake-up call the next morning. It was so sudden - bam! - the door opened and I found myself staring up at the ceiling of my room, the dim light of the candle the only source of light which was dying a tad. Rolling over to my side, I got up from the bed and stretched out my stiff limbs only to basically get pelted in the side, thus ruining any normal wake up I was wanting. Groaning, I opened my eyes and at first my surroundings were blurry, but when my vision finally cleared itself out, I saw Hidan standing above me, looking pissed - as usual.

"It's about fucking time you got up! I just wanted to get this damn training session over and done with - yet, here you are lying in your fucking bed like you're not wasting any of my time!" Hidan continued to ramble on about how I was a heathen, but I just sort of tuned him out as I got out of my uncomfortable bed and ate leisurely away at the food that was provided for me. While doing so, I made a mental note on how my wound from yesterday was healing quite well; if I stayed off it - which probably wouldn't happen since I had to train with Kakuzu-san and Hidan again today - it would close within four days or so from now.

When I was least expecting it, Hidan gathered my hair into his fist and twisted it around. I yelped softly with pain; I didn't want to cry out too much, as that showed Hidan weakness - a look he probably wouldn't mind seeing on me.

"Don't just fucking sit there eating away and ignoring me! Let's go already!" Hidan shouted at me, dragging me out of my seat. I nodded with tears brimming in the corners of my eyes from the stinging pain on my scalp. Luckily, at that moment, Hidan released my dark hair and stormed out of my room. I supposed he wanted me to follow him; though, my head still hurt from him tugging unmercifully on my hair. I took a moment to let the pain lessen then I would follow him; hopefully he wouldn't get angry at me again for being slow.

Brushing my hair hastily back in place with my fingers, I sprinted a bit to catch up to Hidan. I saw him turn the corner which caused me have to rush myself in order to catch up to him. As I was about to follow him around the corner, another figure appeared at the corner of my eye; catching my attention. Turning to that person, I immediately saw the long blonde hair that helped me recognize him instantly:

Dei-Dei.

My heart was pulsing inside my chest until it felt that I couldn't breathe properly. It was as if everything was screaming at me to go after Dei-Dei in attempt to catch up to him, but after the way he coldly treated me the last time, there was a small part of me that didn't want to try to get him to remember me. Besides, Hidan would probably get mad at me for straying off course - but then if I wasn't around that meant he didn't have to train me. He would appreciate that, honestly. I sighed through my nose; I was getting really frustrated with myself for always turning the cons into pros - something I was really getting fond of doing lately.

Once Dei-Dei began to disappear in the dark hallways, I panicked and I didn't even think about it as I scurried off after him. Now that I was on my way to Dei-Dei, it became easier for me to go through with my decision. I mean, it wasn't hard for me to abandon Hidan and Kakuzu-san even though they were the one's who were spending their time training me, but it wasn't like they specially treated me in a way that would make me want to come back.

Dei-Dei then completely disappeared in the hallway which made my heart sink inside my chest and I strove to run even faster than before. When I arrived in the hallway where I saw Dei-Dei disappear, I was discouraged when I couldn't find him anywhere. How could he have vanished so suddenly like that? Of course, he was a trained ninja and things like this were second nature to him; maybe his disappearance was a testament to that. In the hallway I entered, there were two wooden doors and a fork in the hallway. There were too many possibilities of where he might have gone; not to mention that I was now lost in these seemingly endless dim hallways.

I took in a deep breath to think about my situation calmly. It would be wise to check the rooms first, since it wouldn't get me any more lost than I already was. If he wasn't in either room… then I just had to improvise or trust my instincts to get me back to where Hidan and Kakuzu-san probably were waiting impatiently.

So I put my hand against the door and pushed it open all the way to reveal a very subdued room. There wasn't immediately anyone inside so I blindly ventured inside. I couldn't tell right away what occupied the room, but judging from the types of boxes were inside it, there was something telling me that it had shuriken stars, kunais and the like in it.

When I stepped into the middle of the room, I was not prepared in slightest to be attacked from behind. My right arm was twisted behind my back and a hand clamped over my mouth. I struggled against my assailant, but they were obviously much stronger than I. They slammed me into the nearby wall and pinned me there; with my face pressed up against the wall. As quickly as their assault came, the person released my mouth, but continued with their iron grip on my wrist; not allowing my escape.

"Staring at me from afar wasn't enough for you; but now you're following after me, un?" The person asked wearily which caused my eyes to widen and I turned my head as far as it could quickly to the person who pushed me up against the wall so violently. At first, my eyes were still not adjusted to the darkness of the room, but when they finally did, I noticed that it was, indeed, Dei-Dei who had me cornered.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out straight away - as per usual. Come on Chiasa, this is your golden moment to really talk with him! I gulped down the saliva that, for some reason, collected inside my mouth so I could speak properly, "Um… I wasn't following after you. I was… lost. Hidan ran ahead of me too fast and… before I knew it, I-I couldn't find my way. That's all, r-really." Dei-Dei gave me this look that told me instantly that he didn't believe me for one minute.

"You must think I'm stupid, un. I sensed your chakra behind me as you were following Hidan, but then you hesitated and went with coming after me even though you could have easily continued following Hidan, un." Dei-Dei speculated. As soon as he said that, I felt extremely exposed. He easily derived all that from just one action on my part. I lowered my eyes from his vibrant blue orbs.

"All right… I wasn't lost. I came to talk to you." I admitted softly. It was a rather bold statement, but since it was just the two of us - of whom were best friends way back - he probably wouldn't get too upset from my rashness.

"What is it, un? More on how you know me when I lived in Iwagakure?" Dei-Dei assumed. His grip on my arm lessened though, which really caused me to wonder if what was coming out of his mouth before - about him never seeing me before in his life - was all a lie. If he had the courtesy to make me comfortable when he attacked me from behind then he must have been just trying to fool me. Why, though; why would he shun me when we were best friends back when we both lived in Iwagakure?

"Yes. This time around, I want the truth." I said - more audacious than I have ever been since I arrived in the Akatsuki hideout. Dei-Dei didn't seem to appreciate my statement seeing as he frowned deeply; making is disapproval obvious, "I'm Chiasa Yamaguchi - part of the Baaten clan that used to live in Iwagakure. I'm the daughter of Mari and Yoshio Yamaguchi, sister of Ayumu Yamaguchi; I was one of the only ones in my clan who didn't have the Kekkai Genkai special to the Baaten clan - the Omoiyarinoaru Hiiraa."

Dei-Dei seemed to weigh what I said for a moment before asking, "Why are you telling me this, un?"Due to him relaxing his grip on me, I took the time to turn around in his grip so I could face him properly. Dei-Dei returned his hands to his side and took a step back probably to put some reasonable distance between us.

"Maybe so it'll help you remember me." I offered.

"Don't make me repeat myself, un!" Dei-Dei snapped suddenly, "I already told you that I have never seen you before in my life! Why do you thin - ,"

"Stop lying to me, Dei-Dei!" I yelled back, equally as furious. At his nickname, even Dei-Dei couldn't hide his shock. His eyes widened and his jaw fell slack a bit; hopefully the mention of the nickname that I gave him a long time ago got through to him, "I know a part of you knows who I am. Yet, it seems to me that you're choosing to forget rather than you actually forgot. When I was speaking with Leader-sama and I got down on my knee, I noticed that you were paying close attention. It was as if you recognized that formal Baaten clan stance. Perhaps because you do recognize it."

"You're putting words into my mouth, un. I don't recognize you at all. You're… you just can't be…," Dei-Dei paused, sighing through his nose. He looked severely torn for some reason. He was most likely having conflicting thoughts: the part of him that remembered me was trying to show itself, but then he was refusing to let that part out. I couldn't comprehend why he was distancing himself from me; why he was acting so cold. It really tore a hole into my heart… wasn't he supposed to be my friend?

It was then that those usual pains erupted throughout my skull. I grunted in pain as I sunk to the floor, clutching onto my head. It was as if something was trying to drill itself into my head, but there was something disrupting its advancement. It was one of those pains that kind of blurred my vision - everything around me that wasn't already dark was beginning to drift in and out of blackness in my vision. That ripping, agonizing pain still continued to force out quiet pained cries out of my mouth.

"Chiasa!" I heard Dei-Dei exclaim. I couldn't exactly see straight, but I felt hands clasp gently onto my shoulders. If I wasn't in so much pain, I would've gave him a questioning look. After being so cold to me just a few days ago, he only now decided to show me some form of kindness? Why? Could it be…?

"What's the matter? Are you in pain, un?"

"It's… passing, I think…," I gasped when the pain lessened a tad. Now that it was, I could see without the blackness creeping up into my vision. I took in a considerable amount of air so I could better cope with the pain since it had weakened. Turning to Dei-Dei, I flickered my eyes to where his hands sat on my shoulders and then quickly flitted them to his azure eyes. For a moment, I could see that they seemed a bit… softer than what they had before. Though, that softness only lasted a millisecond before they turned cold again.

"What was that, un?" He asked.

"As far as I know, I've always had these pains." I explained calmly, only pausing here and there to grit my teeth to bear with waves where the pain would randomly get worse, "It's nearly gone now, though." I went to stand again, but Dei-Dei wouldn't take his hands off my shoulders - in fact, it was like he was trying to make me stay crouched where I was. It made me snap back to how concerned his voice sounded earlier. Quickly, Dei-Dei released my shoulders and also stood himself, turning his face away from mine so I couldn't look him in the eyes. Despite the situation, I found myself smiling.

"So… you were saying earlier?" I inquired, taking a step closer to him tilting to the side so I could angle myself to catch a glimpse of his face that he was trying to hide from me. He looked down at me with a light scowl, which depressed me a little bit. I hoping that he might have had blush smeared across his face; but why? We were friends, not lovers…

"What do you mean, un?" Dei-Dei asked, but I could tell that he was feigning ignorance. For some reason, it caused me to chuckle a little behind my hand. I was even surprised at myself; I didn't realize how comfortable I had become since I entered this room with Dei-Dei. Thanks to that, I was acting more like my old self. I was severely glad for that. That robotic mask I put on for the Akatsuki that I called Chiasa Yamaguchi wasn't really sitting in my stomach well.

"You know what I'm talking about." Even though I was more relaxed, I didn't nudge Dei-Dei in the arm with my elbow as I might have in any other situation, "You were saying that I wasn't something… or rather, I couldn't be something. What were you talking about, hmm?" I earnestly looked up into Dei-Dei's eyes expectantly. He turned his chin away from me.

"Don't act so familiar with me. Don't forget that even though you're in the Akatsuki, you're still my understudy, un!" Dei-Dei said, crossing his arms across his chest, "But, if you're so eager to know, I was saying that you couldn't be the person I knew in Iwagakure. It's impossible. She's… she's gone, now."  
I furrowed my eyebrows, "How long are you going to deny it, Dei-Dei? The person who used to be your best friend in Iwagakure - the one who stopped bullies from picking on you about how short you were - is right in front of you!" I told him fiercely. At the mention of the bullies who used to pick on him, Dei-Dei's eyes widened.

"How do you know about that?!" Dei-Dei exclaimed with a redness creeping up into his face from embarrassment, but then caught himself and coughed in his fist, "I mean… I wasn't picked on by bullies. Only wimps get scraped off by the strong, un." Once more, I couldn't hide another giggle from escaping my lips.

"That's so like you, Dei-Dei." I said lightly.

His red face worsened, "Quit calling me 'Dei-Dei', un. Only she can call me that." Sighing, I put my hands on my hips. Everything I said or did, he denied that I was the Chiasa Yamaguchi that he was friends with back in Iwagakure. It was getting frustrating and since the pain was still throbbing in my head, I was getting particularly tired of this rallying back and forth.

When I put my hands on my hips, I felt something lightly tap my stomach as if reminding me of its presence. I looked down at whatever hit me and I saw the necklace that Dei-Dei had given me a long time ago twinkling off of whatever light there was in this room up at me. A smile found its way to my lips; yes, with this, I could convince Dei-Dei that he knew me. After all, he was the one who gave it to me in the first place.

Gingerly picking it up in my palm, I carefully opened the necklace to reveal the pictures of us as kids inside. Without even looking up, I could tell that Dei-Dei was eyeing me closely; I didn't know how I knew, but it was very clear to me that he was. I had felt the very same feeling of him watching me before... I wasn't quite sure when exactly. If only I had less holes in my memory - I wouldn't have to show this necklace as proof of my identity.

"Remember this?" I asked quietly, taking off my necklace and passing it over to him. He frowned again, but nonetheless took the necklace from my hands. I waited for some time for his reaction; for him to shout out that he did remember me and that we could go back to being friends again. Instead, he was silent. No matter how long I anticipated that sort of reaction, it never came. My heart sank as he closed the necklace over again with no words on his lips. Why wasn't he saying anything? Why wasn't he giving me a reaction? Any sort of reaction would have been nice; just not silence. It was heart-rending, the silence: as if it poked at my hope that was growing like a balloon and burst it instantaneously.

Dei-Dei handed back the necklace; and even as I took it back from him still I waited. He had a standoffish glance at the wall to our right, "So you have the necklace... but does that mean you understand it's significance, un?" My eyes grew wide.

"What do you mean?" I wondered. Dei-Dei closed his eyes, breathing in slowly as if he was trying to suppress a specific emotion. Was I not supposed to answer with that question? Was he frustrated with me? Was he disappointed? I wished he would tell me something - anything. I just wanted to get an understanding of how he was feeling. Deeper than that, actually; I wanted to understand him. If we were friends, then I would like to catch up with him. Instead, he was merely pushing me behind him like he couldn't be bothered. No matter how eagerly I tried to get close to him, I couldn't derive anything. There was too great a gap between us now and there wasn't a bridge for me to cross to get over to him. He was in his own world... a world I couldn't seem to participate in anymore.

I squeezed some tears that seemed to come out of nowhere from my eyes. Thank goodness it was too dark for him to catch them. I didn't want him to see me break down and cry in front of him - even if I used to be close to him. Was it so much to ask to be his friend again? Was it so much to want to pass over and be a part of his world again? Was it so much to ask to have a comforting presence in a strange, new place that was full of S-ranked criminals who could care less about my life?

"Somehow, I just knew you couldn't be her." Dei-Dei murmured. I swallowed to choke down a sob that was threatening in my throat.

"I-I'm not 'her'...?" I repeated, my voice hoarse from suppressing tears. I stared down at the floor and thought about what he said. I wasn't her? I wasn't Chiasa Yamaguchi? Of course I was... I mean, from the first thing I can remember, I've always been named Chiasa. Even in my memories I had recently gained I've been called Chiasa. Then again, my parents have kept secrets from me about the Nine Tailed Beast's chakra being inside of me; and since I had no memories who was to say that my memories weren't modified to suit the Baaten clan's fancy? I wouldn't be surprised if the Baaten clan could achieve that sort of medical advancement - where someone could manipulate a person's memories. Perhaps Dei-Dei was right - that I wasn't Chiasa Yamaguchi. Perhaps I was someone else but I was raised to think and believe I was Chiasa Yamaguchi. More tears fell from my eyes - who the hell was I?

There was silence, then he said, "Well, I guess the least I can do for you is to bring you to where Hidan and Kakuzu are waiting, un. Can't guarantee what they'll do to you when you arrive since you kept them waiting for so long." I didn't reply to him; there were no words left for me to say to him. My silence seemed to bother him a little seeing as he turned to me for a split second but then continued out the door anyway. I tried not to let my depression rule me as I followed after Dei-Dei - if I did, then I would only get picked off even more by Hidan. Yesterday was bad enough, but to double it today, I probably wouldn't be able to handle it for very long.

I followed behind Dei-Dei with a noticeably wide distance between us. It was obvious that he didn't want to become friends with me - no matter if we knew each other in the past or not - so what was the purpose in earnestly trying to become close? It would only end in pain for me when he pushed me away like he did already.

Dei-Dei didn't say anything to me either - which was to be expected; but I couldn't help but notice in the corner of my eye that Dei-Dei was occasionally sneaking glances at me. Ever since he screamed out my name when I randomly got that pain in my head, he had been doing that. It was like he was expecting me to fall over by the same paining any second. Was he worried about it or something? I sighed; what was I thinking? What did it matter to him if I got another one of those pains? He was probably merely checking up on me every so often to see if he could get a chance to go his separate way while I was in agony and leave me to fend for myself.

Finally, we made it to the same lobby-like area that Kakuzu, Hidan and I trained in yesterday. I saw Hidan standing there with an extremely impatient look on his face - Kakuzu-san as well. When we arrived, they both gave me these looks that seemed as though they were going to tear me apart. Hidan turned around to face me and I couldn't help but focus on his scythe that was already in his hands; by the way he was tapping the scythe impatiently against his shoulder, it looked like he was itching to tear the blades across my flesh.

"Where the fuck were you?! Was it so hard to follow where I was going, huh?!" Hidan yelled out, his voice harsh and loud like usual.

I wove around Dei-Dei so I could face Kakuzu-san and Hidan to bowed low politely, "Forgive me… that was really careless of me. I promise I won't do it again." My robotic voice came back to me, but I could only hope that they accepted my humble apology. I guess this was where people said 'curiosity killed the cat' - since I wandered off to talk to Dei-Dei to answer my curiosity of whether or not he recognized me, Hidan and Kakuzu-san were just about ready to kill me for making them wait.

Loud, vicious stomping could be heard getting louder and louder towards me. My hair was pulled on again aggressively and one of the three red blades of Hidan's scythe rubbed its edge against my neck - right along my trachea. I dared not move in fear my throat would get torn open on the spot.

"Oh, now you think your apologies are going to give me back my time I wasted waiting for you, right? Well, you're damn wrong!" Hidan shouted at me, causing me to close tight my eyes in fear that he would kill me right on the spot. I tried to tell myself in my head that he couldn't kill me because it would upset Leader-sama, but when did Hidan ever start caring about what his actions did to others?

"For once, I agree with you, Hidan." Kakuzu-san sighed from behind Hidan. My heart wrenched in my chest; this time, even Kakuzu-san wasn't going to vouch for me - and he was right to do so, I suppose. I did waste a lot of their time; after all, they didn't even want to train me in the first place. What would possibly make them want to stop everything they wished to do to educate me in the ways of fighting? "Although, Leader-sama would be greatly annoyed if we killed her. Besides, we might as well train her now that she's here. So, it would be best not to punish her."

Hidan scoffed, "Like I care what that stupid Leader wants! If she pisses me off, she's required to pay the compensation!" With that, Hidan released my hair again, but as soon as he did, he was going to slap me right across the face. I braced myself, but nothing came… I opened my eyes and noticed that someone had stopped Hidan's arm. I gasped softly when I saw that it was Dei-Dei who had stopped him. I assumed he already left when we arrived… but, why did he end up staying?

"What the hell, Deidara?! Let go of me!" Hidan yelled. Yet, Dei-Dei refused to let him go, it seemed. My shock just couldn't seem to cease - I was convinced that he didn't care about my existence at all. Although, I should have noticed that there was something in Dei-Dei that told him to defend me seeing as he already shown concern when I experienced the sharp pain in that room and now, he was protecting me from getting slapped around by Hidan.

"Didn't Leader-sama tell you to train Chiasa? Not beat her on every occasion you get, un?" Dei-Dei asked Hidan in a morose voice. I stared at Dei-Dei; he always seemed to be the type of guy who only got serious when the situation called for it. Did that mean… that I resembled the Chiasa he knew and because of that memory he has, he wants to treat me decently? Argh! It was too difficult to work out inside my head without any leads!

"Huh? What are you mumbling about? Yeah, sure that damn Leader told us that, but—," Hidan began, trying to get his arm free, but Dei-Dei had a tight grip on him.

"Then do it, un. If you skip being angry then the training won't take as long." Dei-Dei said. Hidan gave Dei-Dei a curious look, but didn't say anything as Dei-Dei released his arm and turned around to leave the room. I couldn't help but stare at his back even though he probably knew that I was. If Hidan and Kakuzu-san still weren't around, I probably would have thanked him. But I couldn't bring up the courage to do it.

"Deidara does have a point, Hidan." Kakuzu-san agreed behind me, but I didn't pay any mind as Hidan squabbled with him. I couldn't get over it; Dei-Dei defending me against Hidan. I couldn't help but pull the hope back up that I dropped when I convinced myself that Dei-Dei didn't care for me even in the slightest. Before, I was thinking it was a mistake that I joined the Akatsuki - they were a bunch of criminals with no need for friends or even acquaintances for that matter. Yet, now, I was beginning to think to myself: Criminals were people too; no matter what kind of past they led. They had human feelings no matter how much they tried to hide it. The only difference was, because of their shaded pasts, they grew with distorted thoughts and ideals. If only they could resurface those emotions they've hidden then they wouldn't have to be so serious all the time; then they wouldn't seem so heartless on the outside to everyone. Then people could see what I was seeing - that criminals could actually have a soft spot.

"Chiasa!" Kakuzu-san called to me, bursting me through my thoughts, "We're getting started now!" I turned around and rushed over to Kakuzu-san and Hidan without showing any hesitance. Now that I regained that hope I once lost, I was eager to put my best foot forward and make the most out of this decision to be in the Akatsuki that I had made. Who knew? Maybe being in the Akatsuki wasn't so bad; it could actually prove to be fun, if I sought after that hard enough. Even if I didn't, I would make it up myself - I just didn't want to lose myself because I have sent myself down this path.


End file.
